


Change In A Star's Alignment

by DAMalfoy22



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cute, Drarry, Fluff, Good Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, M/M, Powerful Harry, Romance, Ron Weasley Bashing, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-12 10:37:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10488975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAMalfoy22/pseuds/DAMalfoy22
Summary: Harry starts to notice a change in Draco and soon realizes that Draco needs his help. But will Draco accept it? And even if he does, then what? And what happens when the Dark Lord no longer has Draco to kill Dumbledore? Who will take Draco's place? Follow Harry and Draco on their journey to find trust, friendship, and maybe even love.





	1. Chapter One

It was just after dinner when Harry was walking out of the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione. They were making their way to the library (on Hermione's orders of course), when Malfoy walked past.

"Hey Ferret," Ron said. Harry could see Malfoy flinch a little at Ron's tone. Wait, what? When has Malfoy ever flinched because of Ron? He wondered before tuning back into what Ron was saying, "Watch where you're going." 

Malfoy looked up at Ron slowly with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean, Weasley? I'm nowhere near you! In fact, I'm on the opposite side of the corridor."

Harry noticed that Malfoy didn't have the same flare that usually accompanied his words. In fact, he didn't even use any sarcasm or pull his trademark Malfoy sneer! Harry was soon brought out of his confused thoughts by the sound of Hermione's voice.

"Ron, just leave him alone. You're just trying to pick a fight."

Ron turned to Hermione with a look of incredulity. "But Hermione! He's Malfoy! He deserves it."

Harry was surprised that Hermione would defend Malfoy as well. But then again… Malfoy hadn't done anything to them all year. In fact, Harry couldn't remember the last time he saw Malfoy mouth off to anyone since last year.

Harry studied Malfoy. Truly studied him. He looked paler than usual and had giant bags under his eyes. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that Malfoy hadn't been getting enough sleep. What's more, is he almost looked like he was trying to plead with Hermione with his eyes to get Ron to calm down and he even seemed to shrink a little whenever Ron would say something. 

Hermione was responding to Ron's arguments, but Harry wasn't really listening. At that moment, Ron had started using wild hand gestures, obviously trying to make Hermione see his point. But when he raised his hand high in the air, Malfoy visibly flinched away and took a step back from Ron, looking scared. Wait…Scared!? Since when is Malfoy scared of anything? Especially Ron of all people! It must have something to do with the raised hand… Hmm… 

That's when Malfoy's eyes found Harry's. Finding Harry looking back at him, he held Harry's gaze. Gray eyes held green for just a moment, but in that small second Malfoy had let down his walls. He had taken away the mask he always had on which helped hide his true feelings so that Harry could see the extent of his fear and just how much he wished to be out of that situation. Once Malfoy had put his mask back on and looked away, Harry looked back towards the bickering couple.

Harry cleared his throat loudly to get the pair's attention. The two had obviously forgotten he was still there because immediately, Ron looked to him. Ron was happy, believing that Harry would take his side and Hermione, believing the same thing, looked utterly defeated. She gave Malfoy an apologetic look before looking back towards Harry to wait for him to speak. Harry, instead of looking at the couple, looked towards Malfoy and let his gaze linger there while he said, "Ron, leave Malfoy alone."

Both Ron and Hermione gasped in surprise but Harry didn't see their facial expressions. He was instead watching Malfoy, who had looked up from his shoes: which he had been staring at ever since Harry had cleared his throat. He was looking at Harry in surprise, as he obviously was not expecting Harry to go against Ron. Harry and Malfoy kept staring at each other until they were interrupted by Ron who grabbed Harry's shoulder and spun him around.

"Harry, mate!" Ron said, "Are you feeling okay? Are you sick or something?"

Harry rolled his eyes before he responded. "Honestly Ron, I'm perfectly fine. But look, Malfoy hasn't done anything to us, so just let him go on his way and we can finally go to the library… okay?"

Harry could see that Ron looked like he had been completely betrayed. He looked between Harry and Hermione and seemed to deflate a little. Then he stood up straight again, glared at Malfoy one more time, and turned back towards the library with a huff, saying: "Fine… Let's just go already".

Ron then started walking towards the library without looking back to see if Harry and Hermione were behind him. Hermione quickly followed him trying to catch up. Harry made to follow as well, but stopped to look one last time at Malfoy. He looked relieved that Ron had left, yet he still looked upset. Harry studied him again, noticing that Malfoy looked stressed and tired and… depressed. He looked as if he had the world on his shoulders. 

Malfoy and Harry locked eyes one last time before Malfoy turned and walked swiftly down the hallway. Well, Harry thought to himself, at least he didn't lose his gracefulness. Harry shook his head and walked towards the library; towards his friends. On the way, Harry mentally prepared himself for the onslaught of questions that were bound to be asked from Ron once he entered the library.


	2. Chapter Two

Harry walked into the library to find Ron and Hermione already at a table in the back, so Harry hurried over to sit with them. Since they had taken so much time arguing over Malfoy, they only had half an hour until the library closes.

"So," Harry started to say, but was cut off by Ron saying,

"Want to explain yourself, Harry?"

Harry sighed. He knew this was going to happen, but still, he had hoped he wouldn't be bombarded with questions just this once.

"Look, Ron," Harry started, "we only have a half hour until we have to be back in the common room. So let's get our books and then we can talk later."

Ron didn't look terribly pleased, but Hermione, once realizing they didn't have very much time said, "Oh, goodness! Only a half hour, Harry!? Oh no! Okay, Ron, you go get the book you needed for potions! And Harry, you go find those transfiguration books on the list I gave you because you really need to finish your essay! And I'll get the rest! Oh and don't go reading _Quidditch Through The Ages_ again please! Honestly, it has nothing to do with any of your classes!"

Harry and Ron stood staring at her with wide eyes. Harry didn't think he had ever heard anyone speak so quickly in his whole life!

"Well?" Hermione said, "What are you waiting for? We don't have all day!"

With that, Harry left to find his books, not wanting to face Hermione's wrath.

The walk back to the common room had been awkward since no one talked to each other. But now, Harry wished he was back in the silence of the corridors so that he didn't have to be pestered by Ron.

"Look, Harry," Ron started. _Oh, here we go_. Harry thought to himself.

"I just don't understand!" Ron continued, "What happened back there?"

Harry sighed then started trying to explain, "Ron, Malfoy hasn't tried to fight with us, or _anyone_ for that matter, all year! Plus, he wasn't even doing anything! You were just trying to make him fight you so you could get him in trouble!"

Ron looked shocked that Harry was defending Malfoy. He must have previously thought that Harry had just done it to get out of a fight.

"Honestly, mate," Ron started again, "I think you've gone mental! This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about! And weren't you saying just yesterday how Malfoy was up to something?"

Harry paused for a moment to think. Harry had, in fact, said that just yesterday.

"Okay, so I did say that" Harry began, "and I still believe he's up to something," Harry was about to continue but he was interrupted by Ron.

"Ha! So you agree with me! So why did you defend Malfoy?"

Harry looked over to Hermione for help, but she just gave him a small smile, clearly telling him that he was on his own for this one.

“Ron, would you let me finish my thought please?"            

When he saw that Ron wasn't going to keep talking, Harry continued. "Just because he's up to something, it doesn't mean you can go around picking fights with him for no reason. Whatever it is he obviously doesn't want to do it! I mean, have you seen him at all this year?"

"Harry's right!" Hermione said, having finally decided to step in, "Malfoy's hardly been sleeping and he looks terrified of everything! It's as if he thinks Voldemort himself will appear at any moment. And honestly Ron, it's just a name! Get over it!" She finished after having seen Ron flinch because she had said 'Voldemort'.

"You know, Harry," Ron said sounding angry, "I expected Hermione to go against me in this. But you? I thought you of all people would have my back in this!"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by Ron, "No, Harry," he said, "let's just drop it. I'm going to bed.”

With that said, he left, going up the stairs towards his room.

Harry watched Ron go and was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Hermione standing beside him, watching him intently.

"You did the right thing back there, Harry." she said. "Besides, Ron will calm down and forget all of this ever even happened."

Harry knew she was right. Ron always got over these things. But this was the first time Harry had truly gone against Ron.

Harry sighed and said, "I know, 'Mione. I just wish he could understand, you know? I mean, I get that Malfoy is up to something. But it's obvious he doesn't want to be a part of it."

Hermione looked at Harry for a little bit with a confused look on her face before saying, "I'm surprised you noticed that, Harry. I mean, you've always just sort of assumed the worst when it comes to Malfoy. What changed?"

Harry looked up at Hermione and then back to the staircase, "Malfoy's changed." Harry began, "He's just different this year. I dunno... I just think that he needs help. I don't know if he'll accept it, though."

Harry looked back up at Hermione once he had finished. She almost looked as if she were tearing up.

"Well," she said, 'it couldn't hurt to try."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, 'Mione. I'll try and think of a way to confront him."

At that, Harry got up to make his way to the stairs. He was already going up the stairs when Hermione's voice stopped him.

"And Harry? I'm really proud of you, you know. You're a good person."

Harry smiled down at her. "Thanks, 'Mione" he said.

He then turned around and went up the stairs to the room he shared with Ron, Neville, and Dean. He lay in his bed for an hour trying to think of how to confront Malfoy when he eventually fell asleep, no closer to a solution than he was when he first started.


	3. Chapter Three

It had been a couple of days since the incident with Malfoy and Harry was no closer to figuring out how to confront him than he'd been before. Ron had gotten over himself, but he still sends dirty looks at Malfoy every chance he gets. By the time dinner came around, however, apparently Ron couldn't hold himself back any longer.

Harry walked into the Great Hall a little later than everyone else because he had been preoccupied by thoughts of Malfoy. When he walked to his normal spot between Ron and Hermione, Harry felt everyone's eyes on him. This was nothing new to Harry, but what was new, were the pair of gray eyes watching him. Normally, Malfoy would just keep his head down, but he was actually watching Harry cross to his seat today. Harry didn't seem to be the only one to notice this as, for once, Ron decided to be observant. Harry sat between his two best friends and immediately Ron turned to Harry.  
  
"Do you see that Harry? He's staring at you!"

"So what Ron? So is everyone else." Harry replied.

Ron looked at Harry, then over to Hermione and finally looked back at Malfoy and glared before going back to his food. Harry let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and started piling food onto his own plate. All throughout dinner, Ron refused to talk to either Harry or Hermione and Harry could feel gray eyes on him the entire time.

People were just starting to leave the Great Hall when Harry noticed Malfoy get up to go. Harry figured this was his chance to go talk to him. Before he could even get up, however, Ron was already bolting after Malfoy, obviously set on having a row with him. Harry looked to Hermione for a second; she had a worried expression on her face. He wasted no more time and got up and went after Ron and the blonde. Harry turned the corner in time to hear Ron say, "Oi, Malfoy!"

Malfoy turned around to face Ron. He looked exhausted and once he saw it was Ron who had called him, he looked utterly defeated.

"What Weasley?"

"Why were you staring at Harry all throughout dinner, huh? You planning something, Ferret?"

Harry had had enough as Malfoy looked like he was about to be sick.

"Ron," Harry said, "leave him alone. He hasn't done anything wrong." Malfoy looked almost relieved that Harry had stepped in. Ron, on the other hand, looked absolutely livid.

"Harry, mate... Malfoy was staring at you all through dinner!"

Harry groaned and turned to face Ron full out, "We've already discussed this! _Everyone_ was staring at me at dinner, not just him! Just drop it, okay?"

"Whatever, Harry... I'll see you later then."

Ron stomped off and Harry turned back towards Malfoy only to see that he'd left as well. Frustrated, Harry walked back to the common room where he overheard Ron talking to Hermione.

"'Mione," Ron said, "I swear, Harry's gone mental! This is the second time he's defended Malfoy! I don't understand it! I mean, it's like I don't even know him anymore."

"Ron," Hermione said, "honestly, calm down. There's nothing wrong with Harry. He's just trying to help Malfoy out!"

"WHAT!?" Ron yelled, red in the face, catching the attention of those around him. "He's _helping_ him? He's going to _help_ the _Ferret!?_ Gah! That's disgusting! I can't believe Harry would do that!"

Harry, having heard enough, went up the staircase to his room where he grabbed his invisibility cloak, then went back down and through the portrait hole. He didn't know exactly where he was going, but he knew he didn't want to be anywhere near Ron.

Harry soon found himself walking the hall that lead to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry was about to turn around when he saw Malfoy walking down the hall. Harry watched from underneath his cloak as Malfoy entered Moaning Myrtle's bathroom; he decided to follow the blond in. Once the door was shut behind him, Harry took off his invisibility cloak. Harry looked slightly to his right and saw something he never thought he'd see. _Is Malfoy crying?_ Harry wondered. It took him a minute to realize Malfoy was speaking to someone.

"Please don't cry, Draco! I'm sure everything will be okay!"

Harry recognized that voice. _Wait,_ Harry thought, _that's Moaning Myrtle! And she's talking to Malfoy!?_

"Everything will most certainly _not_ be okay, Myrtle! It's over! I can't do what he's asked! I just can't!"

Harry was confused. Myrtle and Malfoy were talking to each other as if they did so often; as though speaking to each other was nothing new. _But why on earth would Malfoy be talking to Moaning Myrtle of all people? And he can't do what_ who _asks?_ Harry quickly dismissed these thoughts however, because Myrtle had started speaking again.

"Draco! You need to calm down! You said the same thing last week. If you can't do this then not all hope is lost! Remember what I suggested last time?"

Malfoy looked up at her quickly with a piercing look in his eyes. "You very well know that is not an option for me, Myrtle! They'll never accept me as one of them! I'm not the most liked person, you know."

"But it wouldn't hurt to just-" Myrtle started. She was unable to finish, however, because Malfoy had taken that moment to look at himself in the mirror. Rather than just seeing his tear-stained face, he also saw Harry's reflection.

"Potter" Malfoy said bitterly. He spun around to face Harry, pulling out his wand as he did so. Harry pulled his out as well out of sheer habit.

Myrtle made a gasping sound and said, "Oh no, Draco! Please don't do this!"

"Stay out of this, Myrtle!" Malfoy said, not taking his eyes off of Harry.

"Fine." Myrtle said, and then flew into the toilet two down from Harry.

Harry's mind was going a mile a minute. He knew he needed to somehow show Malfoy he wasn't going to hex him, but Harry couldn't think of _how_. Malfoy still had his wand trained on him and he looked ready to strike at any moment. All Harry knew was that he needed to gain Malfoy's trust; somehow make him believe that he wasn't there to hurt him. Harry was still pondering ways in which to do exactly that when, suddenly, Malfoy spoke.

"Well, Potter? What are you waiting for?"

Harry looked confused for a minute, trying to figure out what Malfoy had meant. _Oh!_ Harry thought, _He thinks I'm here to hex him! Oh! I know what to do now!_

Harry slowly started moving his wand arm. He saw Malfoy flinch and close his eyes. Malfoy had his eyes open soon after, however, when he didn't feel a spell come at him as Harry had lowered his wand, then dropped it to the floor. He then promptly kicked it towards Malfoy.

Malfoy, having seen all of this, looked completely bewildered and confused. Before Malfoy could ask, however, Harry spoke: "I don't want to fight you, Malfoy. That's not what I'm here for."

If possible, Malfoy looked even more confused than before. His brows knitted together, blatantly showing his confusion.

"What _are_ you here for then, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

"I'm not exactly sure." Harry started, "But I want to help you out"

At that, Malfoy seemed to go from confused to angry faster than humanly possible. "Well, Potter," he said, "did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't need your help? Or even want it for that matter?"

"Look," Harry said, "you've been different this year. You're obviously not happy. And don't try to fake it around me because I know you don't want to do whatever it is you're supposed to!"

Malfoy looked towards the floor; he wouldn't look Harry in the eye. He seemed to deflate a little right before Harry’s eyes.

"I can't" he said so quietly that Harry almost didn't hear it.

"You can't, what?" Harry asked almost as quietly. He was afraid that if he spoke too loudly, then he would scare Malfoy off. Malfoy seemed to be having some sort of inner debate when, quite suddenly, he collapsed on the floor with one great sob.

"I can't go through with what _He_ wants me to do! I just can't do it!" Malfoy said through his tears.

Harry moved slowly to where Malfoy was sitting on the floor and when he saw that Malfoy wasn't shrinking away from him, he sat down in front of him.

"Then let me help you, Malfoy! You don't have to do whatever it is!"

"You don't understand, Potter!" Malfoy cried, "I have no choice! I have to do it! I have to!" Malfoy started to really sob now.

Harry put his hand on Malfoy's shoulder to try and comfort him. Harry was at a loss. He hadn't expected this at all. Yelling, screaming, hexing... he expected that to happen. But _crying_? He didn't know what to do with a crying Malfoy. Finally, Harry said, "Why do you have to? What will happen if you don't do it?"

Malfoy shook Harry's hand off of his shoulder and then said, "Why do you even _care,_ Potter? Since when have you ever cared?" He had looked up at Harry quickly, but then looked back down at the floor. He couldn't bare looking into Harry's intense green eyes at that moment.

"I care Malfoy," Harry began, "because you obviously don't want to do it! You haven't been your normal rude self and I can tell you need help."

"But why help me, Potter? I've been terrible to you and your friends. I don't deserve your help. I don't deserve _anyone's_ help!"

"Yeah, you've been a bloody prat to me and my friends," Harry said, "but you haven't been a prat all year. To _anyone_. There's obviously more to you than I used to think. And I believe in second chances. This, Malfoy, is me giving you a second chance. I'm hoping that you'll accept it and give me a second chance as well."

The last part made Malfoy look up with a look of utter shock on his face. "What do _you_ need a second chance for?" Malfoy asked, sincerely confused.

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm completely innocent in this, Malfoy! I haven't been the nicest person to you either. You may have been a prat, but I was one right back to you. We're both in the fault here. I'm just as guilty, if not more, than you!"

"I'm nowhere _near_ less guilty than you, Potter!"

"What do you mean, Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Don't be so daft, Potter! You know I'm up to something, you know that I've been given something to do for the Dark Lord. And you know it can't be anything pure or innocent if it's from _Him_." Malfoy said quickly.

"But you don't want to do it, do you?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course not!" Malfoy nearly screamed.

"Exactly!" Harry said smiling. "You don't want to do it so you're not guilty of anything! You're being forced to do it! And besides, you haven't even done anything yet."

"But I will!" Malfoy said. "I will because there's no other option!"

"You keep saying that. So why do you have no other option? What is stopping you from accepting my help?"

Harry stared at Malfoy until their eyes locked. They sat staring at each other for a long time while Malfoy was debating whether or not he should tell Harry anything. _This is it!_ Harry thought, _If Malfoy talks to me now, I know I'll be able to convince him to accept my help. He just needs to tell me what is holding him back!_

Harry watched as a single tear fell down Malfoy's face. Harry had the sudden urge to wipe it away with his thumb, but stopped himself before he could actually do it. _What in the world was I about to do!?_ Harry didn't get a chance to analyze this, though, as Malfoy had begun to speak.

"I... He's..." Malfoy took a deep shuddering breath that ended in a sob before continuing. "He'll kill me... If I fail, he's going to kill me."

"Who?" Harry asked, "Voldemort?"

Harry watched Malfoy close his eyes as he started to tear up again.

"No," Malfoy finally said, "not Voldemort."

Harry, now confused, asked, "Then who?"

Malfoy looked straight at Harry when he said, "My father".

"Your father?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Yeah," Malfoy said, bitterly, "my own bloody father".

"But, if that's what's holding you back... I mean, we would protect you from him! So you wouldn't have to worry about that!" Harry said.

Malfoy sighed loudly before speaking again, "You don't understand, there's more to it than just that!"

He started crying even harder than before and Harry, on impulse, move closer to Malfoy and wrapped his arm around him. This resulted in an awkward one-armed hug, but Malfoy didn't seem to care. He leaned his head against Harry's shoulder and just rested it there while he cried. Eventually, Malfoy managed to calm down enough to keep talking.

"Voldemort told me that if I failed, then he would kill my mother. My father killing me I could handle, but I don't want my mother to be murdered! Especially not by Voldemort! I may not like father, but I love my mother." Malfoy said into Harry's shirt. "I can't just let her die! I can't!" Malfoy started crying again.

Harry tried to calm him down with words, but nothing was working so Harry just held the crying boy in his arms and rubbed circles soothingly on his back. Harry took this time to truly think through everything he had just been told. _Hmmm,_ Harry thought. _Obviously the only way Malfoy will accept my help is if I find a way to save Narcissa as well._ Harry tried to think of a way to safely and successfully do that, but he soon realized he would have to ask Dumbledore for help. _Great,_ Harry groaned, _now I have to convince Malfoy to go talk to Dumbledore about all of this! This is impossible!_

"Malfoy?" Harry asked once the other boy had calmed down.

"Yeah?" Malfoy asked.

"I think I know how we can save your mother, but we'll have to get Dumbledore's help to do it."

Malfoy instantly moved away from Harry, looking panicked. "NO!" Malfoy said, "Not Dumbledore, anyone except Dumbledore! Please!"

"But why, Malfoy? I'm sure he'll be happy to help you out! Trust me!" Harry said, confused by his reaction.

"Because... my assignment... I..." Malfoy stuttered. But Harry understood almost immediately what was going on.

"Your assignment has something to do with Dumbledore doesn't it?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes" Malfoy said simply and just as quietly as Harry. He refused to meet Harry's eye.

"What do you have to do?" Harry whispered.

"I don't want to talk about it" Malfoy whispered back.

"Malfoy," Harry said seriously, "I want to help you out of this but I can't if I don't even know what _this_ is!"

Malfoy sighed then hung his head in shame. Finally, he whispered, "I have to kill him".

"Okay," Harry said, "well, I can see why you wouldn't want to go talk to Dumbledore about that, but you do know it's the only way out of this, right?"

Malfoy looked at him now, "I know" he said, "Do you really think we could save my mother?"

Harry looked Malfoy in the eye, "Yeah, I really think we can. But we'll have to talk to Dumbledore about it."

"We?" Malfoy asked. "As in, you'll be there with me when I have to tell him?"

"Yeah." Harry said. "If that's okay with you, of course."

"Yes." Malfoy said quickly. "Please be there. I don't think I can do this alone".

"Then I'll be there" Harry said, smiling when he saw Malfoy give him a small smile. "So," Harry continued, "are you ready to go?"

The panic returned to Malfoy's eyes, "Right... right now?" he asked hesitantly.

"I know this is all really sudden, but we have to act quickly. The sooner we get your mother to safety, the better. We can't have Voldemort finding out before we can protect her."

"Alright, just a second" Malfoy said. Harry watched with interest as Malfoy hid all his feelings behind his mask like he usually did.

Harry found it strange that he had been the one allowed to see behind Malfoy's mask. But at the same time, Harry was glad he had seen behind it. He liked it better when Malfoy didn't have his cold mask of indifference on. Harry watched as Malfoy made his way to the mirror and straightened out his robes and hair. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to Harry with his usual mask on and said, "I'm ready".

Together, they turned and walked out of the bathroom and moved towards the Headmaster's office and what would no doubt be one very awkward conversation.


	4. Chapter Four

Harry and Malfoy reached the Gargoyles leading to the Headmaster's office when Harry realized he didn't know the password. Swearing under his breath, he was about to tell Malfoy he didn't know the password when a voice behind them made him and Malfoy both jump.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy" Snape said, "What, might I ask, are the two of you doing out of bed at this time of night?"

"Sir," Harry started, "we need to speak to Dumbledore right away. It's urgent, Sir!"

Snape looked long and hard at Harry and Malfoy, then, apparently deciding they were telling the truth, he said: "Fine, but I am coming with you."

Harry looked over at Malfoy to see if he was okay with Snape coming with them. Malfoy stared at Harry for a little while before he gave Harry one small, barely noticeable nod. Harry turned to Snape and said, "Okay, Sir, lead the way".

Snape turned towards the Gargoyles and said the password. The stone figures jumped out of the way and the Potions Professor went first with Harry and Malfoy trailing closely behind him. Harry was walking behind the blond and started to notice that, the closer they got to Dumbledore's office, the slower the other boy would walk. Harry put his hand on the small of Malfoy's back, making him keep up with their professor. Malfoy tensed a little, but then slowly began to relax and calm himself.

Finally, they reached the door to the Headmaster's office. Snape took a moment to look back at the two boys with his brows furrowed in thought. Then he turned back to the door and knocked. Malfoy was straightening his robes out when a voice came from within the office.

"Enter" Dumbledore said.

The door opened and Snape entered right away. The blond glanced at Harry, a question in his eyes. Harry, understanding that Malfoy was asking if he should really be doing this, gave him a small smile and a nod. Malfoy then straightened himself out, bringing him to his full height and walked into the office with an air of confidence. Harry followed in after him.

Harry noticed Dumbledore was staring at Malfoy with a look of mild confusion. He obviously did not expect to see the Slytherin, of all people, in his office at this time of night. After studying Malfoy for another minute, he looked over to Harry, who saw the look of confusion become even more pronounced on the old man's face. The brunette had never seen the Headmaster so confused before and he found it quite amusing. The smile that was starting on Harry's face was quickly stopped, however, once he looked over at Malfoy and remembered why they had come here in the first place.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, but was probably only a minute or two, Dumbledore spoke.

"So, Severus, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm not actually sure myself. I found these two," he pointed towards Harry and Malfoy, "in the corridor. They said they needed to speak with you; that it was urgent."

"Ah," said Dumbledore, "So they were not caught fighting?"

"No" said Snape simply.

"Well then," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together, "I believe I know why these two sought me out this evening. You may go, Severus" he finished with a small smile.

"But Albus-,"

"No arguing, Severus, I need to speak with these two alone. I will send for you if you are needed." Dumbledore said with an air of finality that clearly told Snape that he was dismissed.

The Potions Professor turned away from the Headmaster and walked towards the office door, giving Harry a glare as he walked past him. Snape opened the door with a flick of his wand and strode out the door, his robes swirling behind him.

Dumbledore closed and locked the door with a tiny flick of his wand and then motioned for Harry and Malfoy to sit down. Harry started towards the chairs right away, but he saw Malfoy hesitate. Harry moved towards him and put his hand on the blond’s arm. The Slytherin jumped a little in surprise but quickly composed himself and gracefully made his way to one of the chairs opposite Dumbledore. To anyone else, Malfoy would seem calm, cool and collected. But Harry knew better; he noticed how Malfoy was playing with the sleeve of his robe, or how the blonde would tap his thumb on the armrest of his chair.

 _Wait,_ Harry thought, _since when did I start paying so much attention to Malfoy?_ He didn't have much time to ponder that, however, because Dumbledore started speaking.

"Well then," he started, "I believe I know why the two of you are here."

"You do?" Harry asked.

"You are here, I believe because, and correct me if I'm wrong, but because Mr. Malfoy here, does not wish to fulfill his task and would like to switch sides. Am I correct in believing such?" Dumbledore asked.

"How did you know that?" Harry asked bewildered.

"Why else would the two of you seek me out if it has nothing to do with you fighting?" Dumbledore asked with a smile. "Anyways," he continued, "I will, Mr. Malfoy, help you out and accept you onto our side."

At this, Malfoy finally stopped drumming his thumb on the armrest, with a look of complete shock on his face.

"But Sir," Malfoy said, "you don't understand. You wouldn't be this accepting if you knew what my task was". With this said, the grey-eyed boy would not look up from his hands which were currently clasped together in his lap.

"Actually, Mr. Malfoy, I do in fact know that your task was to kill me."

Malfoy's head shot up to look at Dumbledore. "You knew? But why didn't you try to stop me? Or kick me out of the school?"

"Because," Dumbledore said, suddenly very serious, "I know what would have happened to you had you gone home without completing your task".

Harry watched as Malfoy shivered when Dumbledore spoke of the consequences of his failure. The blond still looked pale and was pulling on his sleeve, but Harry saw that he had a look of hope in his grey eyes. But even still, it was a cautious hope; it was like Malfoy didn't want to let himself hope in case it wasn't true, but he couldn't help but hope just a little bit.

"So… you'll still help me?" Malfoy asked cautiously.

Dumbledore gave him a genuine smile then and said, "Yes, of course I will help you".

Harry, who had been silent throughout the whole exchange, spoke up. "Professor Dumbledore, there's something else that is very urgent that we need to speak about."

"And what would that be, Harry?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Well, you see, Sir, Malfoy's mother will be in danger if they find out Malfoy's switched sides."

"So what do you suggest we do, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well," Harry started, "We'll need to tell Snape every-"

" _Professor_ Snape, Harry" Dumbledore corrected.

"Right, well, _Professor_ Snape, needs to be informed of everything that has happened. That way, he can go to Malfoy Manor and get Narcissa. I mean, it won't seem weird if Snape goes there because they all believe he's on their side. Then, a day or two later, she can use a portkey to get to Hogsmeade where we will meet her."

"Impressive idea, Harry," Dumbledore said with a gleam in his eye.

Harry blushed slightly at the praise and the proud look in the Headmaster's eyes. Harry looked over to Malfoy but ended up blushing even more at the surprised and impressed look on the boy’s face. But, suddenly, Malfoy's brows were knit together in confusion and he asked, "But why does Mother need to leave a few days after Severus visits?"

Harry was surprised at first by Malfoy's use of Snape's first name, but then remembered that the Potion’s Professor is Malfoy's Godfather. Remembering he had been asked a question, Harry was brought out of his thoughts to answer.

"Well, if we want Snape to stay as our spy, then he can't be associated too closely with Narcissa's leaving to switch sides. I mean, if she leaves right after Snape sees her, then people will get suspicious. But if there's enough of a gap between the two, then it'll be a lot harder for Snape to be blamed for it."

Harry, when he had finished talking, looked towards Dumbledore and again saw the look of pride the Headmaster was giving him.

"Alright then," Dumbledore said, "I will inform Severus once you two have left and we'll make it happen. Is there anything else, Harry?"

"Yes, actually, there's one more thing." Harry turned towards the blond in his chair and said, "Malfoy, we need to pretend like nothing has happened for a little while." Malfoy looked like he was about to object, so he quickly continued. "It's just until we can get your mother. Otherwise, one of the students with Death Eater parents could find out that you and I are getting along and then our cover will be blown." Harry concluded.

"Okay," Malfoy said, "you're right. But once she's safe, can I… Can we…"

"Can we _what_ , Malfoy?"

"Can we get along? Because I really don't want to fight anyone anymore."

The last part of what Malfoy had said reminded Harry of how he himself felt. How he didn't want to fight; how he was tired of fighting. _Maybe Malfoy and I aren't as different as I thought._

"Sounds good to me, Malfoy" Harry responded. "I think we could both do with a little less fighting in our lives."

Malfoy held out his hand for Harry to shake and Harry was reminded of his first day at Hogwarts when the grey-eyed boy had offered his hand in friendship. Back then, he had turned the other boy down. Back then, Harry had thought Malfoy was a slimy git who had insulted his first and only friends. Now, though, well… Harry wasn't exactly sure what he saw now. Everything he thought he knew about Malfoy seemed to be false, or a mask created to hide behind. But Harry did know one thing: Malfoy had changed. He'd switched sides and in the end, that's what mattered. Maybe he'd end up friends with Malfoy. Maybe he won't. But he'd never know if he never tried. So, Harry grabbed Malfoy's outstretched hand and shook it.

"Well, boys," Dumbledore said rather loudly, making both boys jump. The Headmaster had had an amused look on his face as he’d watched the two boys finally put aside their old rivalry, "It's getting quite late and both of you have classes to get to tomorrow! Off you go!"

The two boys groaned as they thought about how tired they were going to be and how they'd have to get up early for classes. Harry led the way out the door and down the staircase. Once they reached the corridor, they walked side by side in a comfortable silence. When they got to where they would go their separate ways, Malfoy turned towards Harry.

"Potter," he said.

"Yeah, Malfoy?"

"Thanks." And with that, Malfoy turned and walked towards the Slytherin Common Room.

Harry watched him go in a shocked silence. _Did Malfoy seriously just thank me!?_ Once the blond reached the end of the corridor, he stopped and turned to face Harry one last time. He gave Harry a nod and then turned the corner and out of Harry's sight. Harry then went off to his own Common Room, wondering how he was going to explain all of this to Ron and Hermione.


	5. Chapter Five

As he had expected, when Harry got back to the Common Room, he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him with concerned looks on their faces. Hermione was the first to see Harry and rushed over to him from where she was sitting.

"We were so worried!" She said, "We had no idea where you had gone and when you didn't show up at curfew… Well, we didn't know what to think but we didn't think it could be anything good."

As Hermione had been speaking, Ron had gotten up from his position on the couch and now stood behind Hermione. "Harry," Ron started, "are you okay? What kept you out so late?"

Harry looked between his two best friends and wondered if he should tell them about Malfoy. Harry sighed, realizing that he would have to tell them because he was a terrible liar and they wouldn't believe anything he could make up anyways.

"I was with Malfoy" He said at last.

"What!?" Ron interrupted. "What were you doing with Malfoy?"

"Ron, shush" Hermione said, "let him finish."

"Thanks, 'Mione." Harry said, thankful that she had gotten Ron to shut up. "So just hear me out until the end, okay?" When both Ron and Hermione did nothing but nod in agreement, Harry went on. "So, I was just mindlessly walking around when I found Malfoy in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom-"

"What was he doing in there?" Hermione asked.

Harry all of a sudden didn't want to tell his best friends about Malfoy crying. He felt that it was something Malfoy wouldn't even want his best friends to see, let alone his enemies. _Former enemies,_ Harry reminded himself, _Malfoy is on our side now._

Realizing that Hermione was waiting for an answer, Harry told them the story, while being sure to take out the part where Malfoy cried; "Well, I overheard him talking to Myrtle. He was saying how he didn't want to do the task he was given, but how he had no choice. Then he figured out that I was standing there and he drew his wand."

Harry heard Hermione gasp so he looked at her and saw that she was staring at him in horror. "Oh no, Harry!" She began, sounding almost frantic, "He didn't hex you, did he? Is that why you were gone so long?"

"No, 'Mione, I didn't get hexed"

Ron decided to jump into the conversation next, "So you hexed him? Way to go, Harry!"

"No!" Harry said, getting quite frustrated now. "No one hexed anyone! Now, would the both of you be quiet so I can finish?"

"Sorry, Harry." Hermione said. She promptly elbowed Ron, telling him to apologize too.

"Yeah," Ron mumbled, "sorry."

"Okay," Harry said, "now where was I? Oh, right. Well, he pulled out his wand and so did I. But I now knew that Malfoy didn't want to hurt anybody or even be a Death Eater. And I realized then that he needed my help. He needed someone to give him a choice. So I gave him that choice. And after a little while of talking, we went to Dumbledore to sort things out. Snape is going to warn Narcissa and get her out of Malfoy Manor and into Hogwarts to keep her safe."

"So," Hermione said the rest of her sentence slowly, as if not truly believing her own words. "Malfoy's on our side now? He's going to help us defeat Voldemort?"

Yeah," Harry answered. "he's on our side now. We can't say anything yet, though. We have to wait until Narcissa is safe before anyone else can know, so don't mention this to anyone."

Hermione looked deep in thought and then finally nodded her approval. "Alright, Harry, I trust your judgement until I can make a decision of my own. You seem to understand him more than anyone, so I trust you. By the way, what was his task?"

"He was supposed to kill Dumbledore" Harry said quietly.

"Does Dumbledore know this?" Hermione asked, sounding alarmed. Harry nodded in answer. "If Dumbledore can still trust him after knowing that… Wow… He must have made quite an impression. I'll trust him for now".

"Thanks, 'Mione. It means a lot." Harry said.

Ron, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout Harry and Hermione's conversation, had apparently had enough. "Harry," he said in a voice that was anything but calm, "how could you do this?"

"What do you mean, Ron? Do what?" Harry asked, confused.

"How could you defend that Ferret? If you ask me, he deserves whatever is coming to him when he fails."

"How could you say that, Ron?" Hermione asked, clearly upset by her boyfriend's behaviour.

"He's done nothing but torment us his whole life, 'Mione!"

Harry had had enough, "So he deserves to _die_ Ron? His _mother_ deserves to _die?_ All because of some silly childhood rivalry!?" Harry was seething. He couldn't believe what Ron was saying. Even if Harry hadn't seen Malfoy cry and seen the anguished looks and sliver of hope when offered a choice… Even if Harry hadn't seen all of that, he knew he would _never_ have wished death on Malfoy.

"Look," Ron said, a little shaken after Harry's outburst, "he's a slimy git and I don't trust him."

"Then trust me." Harry pleaded.

"I don't know if I can anymore, Harry." Ron then turned and left up the staircase just like last time. But this time, Harry didn't think Ron would get over it.

Harry turned to Hermione and saw that she had a conflicted look on her face. Harry knew she was trying to decide whether she should stay with him or go up to Ron.

"Go, 'Mione" Harry said, forcing a small smile. "I'll be okay. Go talk some sense into him, would you?"

"I'll try, Harry." She gave him one last look and then went after Ron to try and calm him down.

Harry felt overwhelmed. So much had happened in such a small amount of time and his mind was reeling. He was glad that he could help Malfoy and that they had put their past differences behind them, but he was afraid that he may have lost his best friend in the process. He decided, however, that he didn't want to think about that right now. He let his thoughts wander to Malfoy and he wondered if the blond Slytherin boy was okay and how he was dealing with all of the changes.  
  
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Draco's POV:

Draco walked into the Slytherin Common Room and quickly made his way to the stairs, not noticing someone had been up waiting for him to return.

"Draco, wait!" a voice said right behind the blond, making him jump. Draco turned to see Blaise Zabini, his best friend.

"Not now, Blaise, I just want to go to bed; I'm tired." Draco didn't realize how true his statement was until he had said it. He suddenly discovered that he was, in fact, exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep before he had to get up again for classes. But Blaise, apparently, wasn't going to go away so easily.

"Where were you, Draco? It’s way past curfew! What if you had of been caught? Wait! You weren't caught, were you?" Blaise asked, with genuine worry in his voice.

"Don't worry, Blaise, I'm not in any trouble." Draco said, cautiously steering away from the 'being caught' part of Blaise's questions. He really hated lying to Blaise so Draco tried to tell half-truths whenever possible so that he wouldn't have to flat out lie.

Apparently, Blaise knew this too and he called Draco out on it, "Oh please, Draco, don't do that half-truth crap to me! We both very well know you're not telling me the whole story, so spill!"

Draco sighed heavily, wishing more than anything that he could be in his nice, warm bed. "Look, Blaise," he began, "I promise I'll tell you everything, but I can't right now! You just have to trust me on this, okay?"

"You'll tell me everything, right?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah, I will. I should be able to tell you by the end of the week. It'll all make sense when I explain it but for now, just trust me."

"Alright, I trust you. 'Night, Draco." Blaise gave Draco one last look, then left for his room.

"'Night, Blaise." Draco said to Blaise's retreating form before heading to his own bed.

Draco tried to sleep, but he soon found himself staring at the curtains of his four-poster bed. He couldn't stop thinking of the events of this evening. He remembered how he had been talking to Myrtle again and how hopeless he had felt. He knew he couldn't go through with the task and the consequences of that were finally starting to sink in. Draco had been so sure that he was going to die. He had been sure his Mother was going to die. He had been breaking down and then, of course, bloody Potter had to be there when it happened.

Draco remembered how angry he had been when he saw Potter. He didn't want his best friends to see him so vulnerable, let alone Potter. But then, Potter had surprised him because when they both had their wands pointed at each other, Potter had let his drop. At first, Draco had thought that he had accidentally sent a hex or something at Potter, but then realized that the other teen had done it on purpose when he kicked the wand over to Draco.

Draco was surprised by his own behaviour as well. He couldn't believe that he had broken down in front of Potter and had even let The-Boy-Who-Lived hold and comfort him. He had been surprised that he found he kind of liked being comforted by Potter of all people. But the green-eyed boy had made him feel safe. For the first time in a long time, Draco had felt protected. He had felt like no one could ever hurt him while he was with Potter. It was strange to feel that way when a few minutes earlier, Draco had been ready to hex the living daylights out of him. Of course, Draco was hardly admitting any of this to even himself.

Draco lay for a while wondering what Potter was telling his friends. Draco couldn't help but worry that the raven-haired teen was telling them about him breaking down and crying. Draco could see it now: the Golden Trio, laughing their heads off at the thought of him crying. Draco didn't want to see those three tomorrow. He didn't want to see them smirking at him, laughing. At least he had a few days where no one else in the school would know. He really wished Potter didn't tell his friends, but Draco knew that that would take a miracle and a completely different Potter than the one he knew. No, Potter was most definitely telling his friends.

Draco sighed, then turned over onto his side to try and get some sleep. Finally, after what seemed like hours of lying awake, Draco fell asleep wondering what tomorrow would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry woke up the next day to find himself on the couch in the Common Room. He had been so tired last night that he had fallen asleep on the couch. Harry slowly got up and stretched. He was sore from having slept in an awkward position all night.

Harry reluctantly went to his room, glad to find Ron was still asleep. He grabbed his clothes and went to shower. When he got out and went to grab his bag, he saw Ron was awake. The ginger just ignored Harry and brushed past him and into the bathroom. Harry sighed. Apparently, Ron was still mad at him. Though Harry had expected this, he was still a little hurt. Harry sighed again and then grabbed his bag and left for breakfast.

Harry ran into Hermione in the Common Room and they walked to the Great Hall together. Harry automatically looked towards the Slytherin table and found the blonde reading the Daily Prophet, acting like nothing happened. As if sensing eyes on him, Malfoy looked over his paper at Harry, gave him a tiny nod, and then looked back at the article he was reading. Harry looked away and smiled as he finally reached his seat and sat down.

A part of him had expected Malfoy to get scared and back out, so Harry was happy that Malfoy had acknowledged him. Harry noticed that Zabini had gotten Malfoy's attention and that they turned to look at him. Harry looked down at his empty plate and started filling it with food, a small smile still on his face. Harry's smile faltered, however, at the sight of Ron entering the Great Hall. Ron completely ignored him and Hermione and walked right past them to sit with Dean and Neville. The two boys looked surprised and then confused.

Throughout the rest of breakfast, Dean and Neville kept looking between Ron and Harry, trying to figure out what had happened between them. Harry had had enough of the whispering about him and grabbed his bag after pushing his plate away from him. He then rose and stomped out of the Great Hall.

Harry hated all of the attention he was paid because he was 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'. It was so frustrating to Harry because no one believed him when he told them he didn't want the fame. All Harry had ever wanted was to be normal. For people to like him for himself, not because he was the bloody 'Golden Boy'. _Why can't someone understand? Even Ron and Hermione don't understand my need to be normal. Why can't just one person understand?_

Harry made his way to Potions class. He may be early, but Harry didn't care. He just wanted to get away from all those people for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

Draco woke up feeling more tired than when he had fallen asleep. He got up and stretched, then went to the bathroom to shower, bringing his clothes for the day with him. After he had showered, he grabbed his bag and headed out of Slytherin Common Room and into the Great Hall. He knew he was a little early, but he didn't care. He wanted to be there when Potter and his friends come in.

Draco watched as slowly, everyone started entering and grabbing food. When Potter entered, Draco grabbed the Daily Prophet so he could watch Potter without him, or anyone else, knowing. When Draco looked over the Prophet, he was surprised to see Potter only walking with the Mudlbood. Draco looked up fully from his paper when he noticed Potter staring at him. Draco gave Potter a small-barely there nod, then looked back at his paper, not really seeing it. Draco felt the person beside him elbow him and he turned to see Blaise. "Potter seems to be in a good mood today." Blaise said.

Draco looked over to the Gryffindor table to see that Potter had a happy smile on his face. "I wonder why?" Blaise continued, "I mean, it doesn't look like Weasley is there."

At the mention of the Weasel, Draco couldn't help but remember his thoughts from last night. _I bet he's smiling because he told the Mudblood and Weasel about my breakdown. Merlin. I bet Weasel isn't here because he is trying to control his laughter. I can't believe Potter would… Well, I can believe it actually-._ Malfoy didn't get to finish his thoughts though, because the Weasel walked in. _Well, stormed in is more accurate,_ Draco thought. Draco didn't understand. _Why isn't Weasel trying to conceal laughter? He's obviously really angry since he isn't that good of an actor… So what's happening?_ Draco was even more surprised when Weasel didn't sit with Potter or the Mudblood. _So he's angry with Potter? How did that happen?_ Draco wasn't the only one questioning what was going on. It seemed like everyone in the Great Hall was talking about it.

Draco watched as Potter got more and more irritated with everyone. Suddenly, Potter got up and stormed out of the Great Hall. Draco was confused. _Why did Potter get so angry at everyone? I thought he enjoyed the fame. Is it possible that Potter was telling the truth all these years? Did he truly hate being the Famous Harry Potter?_ Draco thought about all of this as he left the Great Hall and went to Potions. Apparently, he didn't know Potter as well as he'd thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Harry's POV:**

Harry managed to get through potions until the very end when Snape said that he and Malfoy were to stay after class. Harry assumed it had to do with Narcissa, but he still groaned to make everyone else believe it was just him getting in trouble again.

At the end of class, everyone quickly filed out. Everyone except Malfoy and himself, that is. Harry watched as Ron got up, glared at him, and then brushed past him quickly. Harry sighed then made his way to Snape's desk.

Snape flicked his wand, effectively closing and locking the door and then sending a silencing charm so no one could listen in. "So for once you are not in trouble, Potter," Snape began, "but we do have something to talk about very quickly."

"What is it Sev?" Malfoy asked.

"I have warned your mother, Draco"

"And?" Malfoy asked, concern evident in his voice.

"She will leave in four days. But she has packed an emergency bag already, in case she has to come early."

"But where will she go? The portkey doesn't work until four days." Harry said, speaking for the first time.

"Narcissa has been given my address which is where she will go if necessary."

"And how are we ensuring _your_ safety in all of this?" Harry asked Snape.

Harry could see the shock on his face from Harry's question. Obviously, Snape was not expecting Harry to worry about his well-being. _He must have thought that I only care about his ability to be a spy._ Harry thought.

"Well, what do you mean exactly?" Snape asked, still looking dazed and confused.

"How are you going to be sure you won't be blamed for this?"

"Oh, well when she does come here, I'm going to be the one to tell Voldemort since she is going to be staying here and it would be odd if I didn't inform him right away."

"Alright," Harry said, "just be careful." Harry looked away from Snape's shocked expression to see Malfoy had the exact look on his face. Harry rolled his eyes then said to Snape, "Is that all, Professor?"

"Oh… Yeah… That's all. You two may leave now". Snape said, still looking a little shocked.

Harry watched Snape turn and go into his private rooms. Harry started for the door when Malfoy's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "What was that all about Potter?" Malfoy asked.

Harry faced Malfoy before answering. "Look, there's a lot we need to talk about. So I think that, once your mother is saved, we should get together to talk."

"Why can't we go talk before then?" Malfoy asked.

"Well we could," Harry began, "but no one could know so wherever we go, would have to be really private where no one could stumble upon us."

"Well," Malfoy said, "I don't share a room with anyone, so if you can sneak into the Slytherin Common Room, then we can talk there."

"You have your own room? How'd you manage that?"

"There was an uneven number of people so I could have either added another bed in one of the rooms, or get my own room. I opted for my own room." He replied.

"Okay," Harry said, "when should we meet?"

"How about tonight after dinner?"

"Yeah, that works. How will I get in the Common Room?"

"I'll wait outside for you" Malfoy answered.

"I'll see you after dinner, Malfoy" Harry said.

"See you then Potter."

Harry moved away from the blonde and left the Potions room to go to his next class. All the while, Harry could only think about what he would tell Malfoy and what Malfoy would hopefully tell him in return.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the day went really slowly for Harry. He was nervous but also a little excited to talk to Malfoy. There was so much they needed to talk about so they could understand each other better.

Finally, it was time for dinner and Harry went to retrieve his invisibility cloak which he shrunk and then put it in his pocket. Harry ate quickly at dinner and then waited a little impatiently for Malfoy to get up. Malfoy looked up then and nodded quickly to Harry before getting up and leaving the Great Hall.

Harry turned to Hermione saying, "I might be really late tonight 'Mione so don't wait up worrying." Hermione gave him a confused look but before she could say anything, Harry had already started for the doors.

Once Harry got out of the Great Hall, he took out his cloak and turned it back to its original size. He then slipped the cloak on and headed to the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room. Once he turned the corner, he saw a head of blonde hair pacing back and forth, waiting for him. Not wanting to blow his cover in case someone came around the corner unexpectedly, Harry didn't take off his invisibility cloak. Instead, to get Malfoy's attention, Harry touched the blonde's arm.

Malfoy jumped and looked around wildly to try and find who or what had touched him. Harry tried to stifle a laugh, but he just couldn't help himself. _The look on his face... Oh, that was priceless!_ Harry thought as he let out a quiet laugh. "Potter?" Malfoy asked, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Harry said quietly, still trying not to laugh, "it's me."                                        

Harry watched as Malfoy sighed and relaxed. Then Harry saw the blonde look embarrassed at his reaction. Harry didn't think he'd even seen Malfoy blush before and he found it rather amusing. Malfoy then quickly composed himself and said, "All right Potter, follow me."

Malfoy then whispered the password so Harry couldn't hear and walked through the now open passage and Harry hurried to follow. He noticed that the Common Room still looked the same from when he was there during his second year with Ron. Harry smiled at the memory but then, remembering that Ron was still mad at him, he scowled. Harry followed Malfoy up the boys staircase and all the up to the top floor where they finally reached the blonde's room.

Harry was surprised at what he saw when he walked in. Harry had expected to see Slytherin green and silver everywhere. But instead, Harry saw a fairly large room with a couch and two big, comfy-looking chairs near a large stone fireplace on the right. To Harry's left, was a door that Harry assumed led to the bathroom. Next to that door was Malfoy's desk which had a bunch of papers, quills and ink pots scattered on it. On either side of the desk were huge bookcases that reached the ceiling, full of books.

Harry crossed over to the bookcases to read some of the titles and saw that most of them were Potions books, which didn't surprise Harry at all. What did surprise him, however, was that there was almost as many Care Of Magical Creatures books. _I thought Malfoy hated Care of Magical Creatures..._ Harry thought to himself. Harry turned to the sound of someone moving and saw Malfoy taking odd his shoes and school robe, leaving him in dress pants and a Hogwarts sweater.

"Make yourself comfortable." Malfoy said.

Harry went back to the door and took his shoes off, placing them neatly beside the door. Harry turned around to face the opposite wall from the door where he saw a couple wardrobes, a side table with a few books on it, a king sized-bed, and Malfoy's Hogwarts trunk at the end of the bed.

Malfoy was busy putting away his school robe so Harry moved towards the fireplace and sat in one of the large, comfy chairs that sat at a slight angle from the couch and just to the right of the fireplace.

The thing that surprised Harry the most about the room was how un-Slytherin it looked. It was green sure, but it wasn't _Slytherin_ green and there was no sliver, just black as the accent colour. Malfoy walked over and sat on the couch opposite Harry, looking a little uncomfortable with having Harry in his room. At Harry's confused look, Malfoy smirked a little and said, "Not what you expected, Potter?"

"Not at all." Harry responded, "I expected it to look like the Gryffindor dorms, just with Slytherin colours."

"Yeah well, since I live here alone, I changed things around. It used to be a simple layout with none of the chairs or the couch. I transfigured all of the extra beds to get those and the desk. I also made the bed bigger."

"You did all of that yourself?" Harry asked, unable to hide the impressed tone from his voice. Harry was truly impressed at Malfoy's transfiguration skills.

"Yeah, I did." Malfoy replied, pride easily read on his features.

"And what about the colours?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Harry began, "the colours for Slytherin are green and silver. Your room is black, not silver. Even the green you chose... It's not Slytherin green."

Malfoy looked over at Harry with a surprised look on his face, "I'm impressed Potter," Malfoy started, "no one else has noticed that... Not even Severus. Apparently, you're not as oblivious as I thought." Malfoy said that last part with a small smirk on his face.

Harry wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult. "Thanks... I think." Harry said. "But why the subtle change in room colour?"

"I dunno." Malfoy said, suddenly looking a little self-conscious. "I guess it was my way of rebelling, you know? I think I just wanted something to represent me just a little. I know... It's stupid, right?"

"Malfoy, that is _not_ stupid." Harry said. Malfoy, who had been staring at his hands, looked up very quickly looking slightly confused. Harry, feeling that he should say more, continued, "You've obviously never wanted to be a part of certain things in your life and you wanted and found a way to rebel. That's not stupid at all."

"But it's a useless and lame way to rebel." Malfoy said quietly.

"Maybe," Harry agreed, "but it was all you _could_ do. You did what would still keep you and your mother safe. If you had of done something bigger or more obvious, then you would have been caught."

Malfoy looked at Harry for a while with a highly confused look on his face. Finally, Malfoy voiced his question aloud, 'Why are you being so nice to me Potter? I thought you hated me."

Harry had to stop to think about that for a moment. _Why_ am _I being so nice to him? I mean, I hate him... Right?_ Harry shook his head, trying to get all his thoughts out of his head so he could answer Malfoy.

"I do hate you. Well, no, I thought I did... I don't know, Malfoy... I guess I hated what I thought you stood for and because of everything I was told about you and because of your father and because of what you did and said to my friends. But now... Now I'm not so sure what I think. So right now, I'm just going to try and find out who the _real_ Draco Malfoy is and make my decision from there."

Harry watched Malfoy who had many emotions flashing in his gray eyes. Confusion, surprise, more confusion and then Harry saw Malfoy give a small smile before saying very quietly, "Thank you."

Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised and confused. "What for?"

"For trying to see the real me. No one's ever tried before."

"Oh." Harry said. He didn't know what else to say so they ended up in a bit of an awkward silence before Malfoy broke it.

"So Potter, why were you and the Weasel fighting?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

Draco watched as Potter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was trying to stop a headache. "Well," Potter began, "it seems that Ron doesn't trust you and thinks you are a spy for Voldemort."

"He doesn't believe you? Even after you told him everything that happened in the bathroom?" Draco asked, confused.

"Well... I didn't tell them everything." Potter said.

Draco didn't understand what the boy before him was saying. "What do you mean? What didn't you tell them?"

"Well," Potter began, "I didn't tell them about you crying or anything like that."

Draco was absolutely baffled. Draco had thought Potter would for sure have told his friends and would have had a good laugh at him too. So why didn't he tell them? _Maybe,_ Draco thought, _it's because Potter didn't want his friends to know that he had comforted me, that he had basically been hugging me. There's only one way to find out for sure though._ "Why not?" Draco asked.

"Because it was personal." Potter said, as if it was completely obvious, "I wouldn't want people to know if I had done that. Hell, you didn't even want _me_ to see that so why would you want my friends or the rest of the school to know too?"

Draco thought this through for a moment, again surprised at Potter's answer. _So he_ didn't _want to humiliate me? He wasn't just covering up for himself? He was actually thinking of_ me _and trying to put himself in my shoes?_ Draco looked at Potter for a while, trying to figure him out. As he watched Potter, Draco remembered how the other boy had stormed out of the Great Hall and asked, "Potter, can I ask you a question?"

Draco saw Potter's mouth twitch into a small smile before Potter said, "I believe you just did Malfoy."

Draco himself smiled a little at this and said, "You know that's not what I meant!"

Potter full out smiled then and said, "Of course you can ask me a question Malfoy, that's what I came here for."

"Okay," Draco said, "well... Do you actually enjoy the fame? Because I used to think you did but looking back on everything now, you just seem highly uncomfortable with the attention."

Draco noticed how Potter looked really surprised at his observation. "No," Potter said, "I don't like my fame. In fact, I absolutely despise it."

"Why?" Draco asked, bewildered. "How could you possibly hate it?"

Potter sighed deeply before responding. "Look, I grew up believing I was a muggle and a freak. Then I'm suddenly told that I'm a wizard and that my parents didn't die in a car crash like I had been told, but were actually murdered by an evil wizard. _Then_ I find out I'm famous by basically being swarmed by people… See, I'm not used to being fawned over or even talked to for that matter, so I was definitely uncomfortable. Hell, I _still_ get uncomfortable."

Potter had stopped, but Draco could tell that there was more to the story than that. "There's more to it isn't there Potter? That can't be the reason you despise it. Dislike maybe, but despise?"

Potter sighed one more time but then blurted out, "I'm famous because my parents died and I survived, Malfoy! Every day I'm reminded of how my parents died and how there is a crazy, evil man trying to kill me too and how I'm somehow supposed to kill him!"

Draco could tell Potter was getting upset and he realized that this must be the first time that Potter's told anyone this. Before Draco could think through this, however, Potter began talking again.

"And every time someone looks at me... God Malfoy... You have no clue... They expect me to kill him... They look at me as if I'm their only hope... But I'm just a kid Malfoy! I grew up thinking I was a muggle for goodness sakes! I don't know many spells! How am I to kill the most powerful wizard and most evil wizard ever, if I can hardly do any magic properly? I'm just a kid."

Draco thought about what the boy in front of him just said. Draco couldn't believe that Potter had revealed so much to him. _Harry was raised believing he was a muggle? They lied to him about his parents’ deaths? He didn't even know he was famous? No wonder he's always so overwhelmed! He's thrown into a whole new world where wizards exist and he's famous and an evil wizard everyone fears tried to kill him and killed his parents! And no wonder he hates being famous… I guess I never thought of the reason behind his fame and how that would make him feel. And_ damn, _Potter carries the whole fucking world on his shoulders! How has he not broken down? How is it possible that someone could be that strong?_

Draco and Potter sat in silence for a while. Each wrapped up in their own thoughts before something Potter had said made Draco ask, "So, Potter, you said that you were raised thinking you were a muggle... Why? How?"

Potter sighed then answered, "I was raised by my Mom's muggle sister, Petunia and her husband, Vernon. They had a son named Dudley. Long story short, they hated magic and pretended that it didn't exist."

"What was it like, living with them? Were they nice to you?" Draco asked, suddenly very curious.

Potter pinched the bridge of his nose again and groaned. Potter wouldn't look at Draco, preferring to look at his feet, when he answered, "I'd really rather not talk about it right now Malfoy, it's rather personal. Can I ask you a question instead?"

Draco wondered what could be more personal than his reasons for not liking his fame, but he kept those questions to himself and simply nodded, letting Potter ask his question, hoping it would be a simple one to answer. "So," the raven-haired boy started, "why do you have so many Care Of Magical Creatures books? I thought you hated the subject."

Draco smiled a little before saying, "Actually, I quite enjoy Care Of Magical Creatures. It's just that I have to pretend I don't because it's seen as a useless course to Voldemort and because Hagrid runs it and Voldemort and my Father both hate him. I guess you could say that those books and taking the course again was another small act of rebellion."

Potter smiled back at Draco and said, "You know, once your mother is safe, you won't have to pretend anymore. You'll be free to be whoever you want."

Draco's smile got even bigger and he could feel his eyes watering a little at the thought. _How long have I just wanted to be myself?_ Draco asked himself. _I can't believe I can finally drop my mask and just be me!_ Draco's thoughts were stopped when Harry spoke.

"Shit," he said, "it's really late and I should go get some sleep before classes tomorrow!” Draco watched as Potter got up and went to the front door to put his shoes on.

"You know Potter," Malfoy said, heading to the door to face the raven-haired boy, "you aren't half as bad as I thought."

Potter smiled before saying, "I guess we never truly knew or understood each other very well, huh Malfoy?"

"I guess not." Draco said, matching Potter's smile with one of his own.

The raven-haired boy opened the door and started to walk out with his invisibility cloak in hand when Draco stopped him. "Hey Potter," Draco asked, "Do you think we could talk some more sometime?"

Potter smiled again before saying, "Of course, Malfoy. We should probably wait until after your mother is here though. I don't want to risk anything.

Draco smiled then said, "Okay, I'll see you soon Potter."

Potter had already gotten under his invisibility cloak so his voice seemed to come from nowhere when he said, "See you soon Malfoy."

Draco shut the door and walked over to his wardrobe to get his night clothes before changing and heading to bed. He lay there a while thinking about everything Potter had revealed and how he had been so kind and understanding towards Draco. He had seen a whole new side to Potter today. One he wouldn't mind seeing again.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been three days since Harry and Malfoy's conversation. He and Malfoy hadn't spoken since then so as not to blow their cover and put Narcissa in danger. But they won't have to do that for much longer because today is the day Narcissa is supposed to come to Hogwarts.

Harry looked over at Malfoy who was slowly picking at his lunch. Harry noticed that, as the day progressed, Malfoy got more and more anxious. Snape had told them yesterday how Narcissa would most likely be here by breakfast so when she didn't show, Malfoy started to panic. He hadn't shown up for our first class, Potions, so Harry had asked Snape if he could go to the bathroom. Normally, Harry wouldn't have bothered to ask and Snape would have said no, but today was different. Turned out, Snape was worried about Malfoy too and, much to the surprise of his classmates, Snape let him go.

Harry immediately went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and found the blonde sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Harry had told him how Narcissa was probably in Lucius' company so couldn't leave. Malfoy seemed to calm down while Harry had ranted about how she is fine and soon enough, Harry was back in Potions and Malfoy had promised to go to his next class. But sitting here at lunch, Harry could see that Malfoy was starting to worry again.

Harry sighed in frustration. He knew he couldn't go help the blonde without someone finding out so he had to act like nothing was happening and that he still didn't like Malfoy. So Harry got up and left when Hermione did and went off to his next class where he couldn't focus on anything being said.

Eventually, dinner came, but there was still no sign of Narcissa. Harry saw that Malfoy seemed to be falling apart. Harry had to admit that even he, himself was getting rather worried. He couldn't imagine how Malfoy must be feeling. Harry saw how, piece by piece, Malfoy's mask fell away. Harry was getting extremely worried about the blonde. He knew exactly how much Malfoy depends on his mask and that he'd have to be in complete turmoil for him to let his mask slip this much.

 Malfoy looked up suddenly and locked eyes with Harry before he stood up and rushed out of the Great Hall. Harry waited ten minutes and then got up as normally as he could. He told Hermione not to wait up and that he'd explain things later, then he left the Great Hall much more calmly than Malfoy had. Once he was out of everyone's sight, he ran as fast as he could to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

When he got there, however, Malfoy was nowhere to be found. Harry groaned in frustration and took out his shrunken invisibility cloak from his pocket. He put it back to its normal size, slid under it, then ran as fast as he could to the Slytherin Common Room. Once he was there though, Harry remembered that he didn't know the password.

"Shit!" Harry said, completely stressed out.

Luckily for Harry, Zabini came over and said the password. Harry slipped in behind Zabini before the passage could close. As Harry passed by to go up the stairs, he saw Zabini look in his direction, but Harry didn't really care at that moment. He knew that Zabini would only be able to see his feet at most. Harry rushed up the stairs, silently cursing the person who put Malfoy's room at the very top of the staircase. Finally, he reached the blonde's room. Harry knocked and tried to catch his breath while he waited for a reply. The door opened slowly and Harry was face to face with a very confused-looking Malfoy.

"Who's there?" the blonde asked.

Harry himself became confused and then realized that he was still wearing the invisibility cloak. He quickly pulled it off and said, "Sorry, I forgot I was still wearing it."

After Malfoy got over the initial shock of having Harry appear out of nowhere, he turned and walked back into his room, gesturing for Harry to follow. "S'alright." he murmured.

Malfoy moved over to the couch and sat down while Harry sat in the chair he had been in last time. Soon after sitting, however, the blonde got up and started pacing back and forth along the back of the couch.

"Malfoy," Harry said, getting the blonde to stop his pacing and look at him, "I'm sure she's fine. Snape would have informed us if your mother got discovered."

Malfoy continued his pacing, obviously not taking any comfort in Harry's statement. "But she should have been here by now, Potter! I can't help but think that something has happened to her! And it would be all my fault!"

Harry noticed that Malfoy was starting to have trouble breathing and that he seemed to be having a panic attack. Harry hurried from the chair he was sitting on, over to Malfoy. He put his hands on the blonde's shoulders to stop his pacing before saying, "Malfoy! Malfoy, you need to breathe okay? Look at me!" When Malfoy looked at him, he continued. "Now I need you to breathe, alright? Just follow me and do what I do. Can you do that for me?" When the blonde nodded, Harry started taking deep, even breaths and motioned for Malfoy to do the same. Soon enough, Malfoy calmed down enough for Harry to walk him to the couch. Harry sat down beside him and watched as Malfoy's breathing went back to normal.

"Sorry," Malfoy said, "that's never happened to me before..."

"It's alright, it was just a panic attack. You got yourself too worked up and worried about your mother."

"I just... I can't... I can't lose my mother..."

"You don't have to explain, Malfoy." Harry said, "I understand. She's the only family you have. Of course you don't want to lose her. I'd be the same if I were in your position right now."

"I'm just so worried." Malfoy said, tears forming in his gray eyes.

"I know," Harry said quietly, "I am too."

Apparently, Malfoy couldn't hold in his emotions any longer. The blonde started crying fiercely. Harry scooted closer to Malfoy and wrapped his arms around the crying boy's waist in order to comfort him. Malfoy didn't tense as much or for as long this time and quickly leaned into Harry's embrace. Malfoy continued to cry with his head buried in Harry's neck. They stayed like that even after Malfoy had stopped crying, both boys just relaxing and calming down from the blonde's crying.

Unknown to both boys, three people had entered the room. The three guests had frozen at the sight of Harry and Malfoy embracing. Finally, Harry felt their presence and looked over to see who was there. To Harry's surprise, he saw the stunned faces of Dumbledore, Snape, and Narcissa standing in the doorway. After seeing Narcissa, Harry immediately turned to the blonde in his arms, not even caring that the three guests had seen them embracing.   
  
"Malfoy!" Harry said happily.

"What?" the blonde grumbled into his neck.

"Malfoy, it's your mother! She's here! She's safe!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

Draco immediately got up, not even caring that he had knocked over Harry in the process. Draco looked over towards the door and quickly skimmed over the faces of Dumbledore and Severus before he saw the one who mattered most.

"Mother!?" Draco exclaimed. He ran over to his Mother and gave her a hug. "Oh, I was so worried!" he said.

"Oh Dragon," she said, "I just couldn't shake off your damn father! But it’s okay, I'm here now."

Draco's mind was trying to process everything. He couldn't focus on anything else. His mind just kept repeating, _She's here... She's safe..._ Draco looked up briefly to see Potter smiling at him. Draco smiled back but then buried himself into his Mother once more. Draco moved and sat down with his mother on the edge of his bed.

Draco looked up again at the sound of voices and saw Potter talking to Dumbledore and Severus. He briefly wondered what they were talking about but at that moment, he truly didn't care. He had his Mother and that's all that mattered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Harry's POV**

Harry watched as Malfoy and Narcissa were reunited. The joy Malfoy was emitting brought a smile to Harry's face. Just then, Malfoy looked over at him and gave him a smile. Not just any smile, but a true smile. Harry didn't think he could ever remember Malfoy actually smiling. It was breathtaking. When the blonde looked away, Harry found himself almost disappointed. Harry quickly shook those thoughts out of his head and looked towards the two other people in the room.

Snape still looked a little surprised and Harry wondered if the Potions Master was in shock. Dumbledore, on the other hand, didn't look surprised anymore and actually seemed quite pleased. Harry made his way towards the couch he had vacated earlier and the other two sat in the chairs across from him.

"So Harry," Dumbledore began, with a gleam in his eye, "that was quite a moment you and Mr. Malfoy were having earlier."

Dumbledore was smiling brightly at Harry, who had no clue what the Head Master was talking about. _Oh... That!_ Harry thought. He had forgotten that he had been comforting Malfoy when the three guests had entered the room.

 _Wait!_ Harry thought suddenly, _Does he think Malfoy and I are... Dating!?_ Harry tried very hard not to burst out laughing, but one laugh did manage to get through. This laugh, however, seemed to break Snape out of his state of shock.

"And what, Potter, is so funny?" Snape asked harshly.

"Sorry Sir," Harry said, "it's just that Malfoy and I aren't dating or anything like that! He was just really upset and had just finished having a panic attack and I was comforting him!"

"Ah," Dumbledore said, "I see." The Head Master still had a little smirk on his face and the gleam was still in his eye, however, which kind of worried Harry a little. _Does he think I'm lying to him?_ Harry thought. Even Snape still had a suspicious look on his face.

"I swear!" Harry said, "I'm telling you the truth! Just ask Malfoy if you want."

"Oh, I believe you, Harry." Dumbledore said.

 _He still has that damn twinkle in his eye, though!_ Harry thought angrily. Harry sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly very tired. He cast a simple tempus charm and saw that it was one in the morning. _No wonder I'm so tired._

"Um... It's really late," Harry said while trying to stifle a yawn, "and I'm tired. Can I go back to my room now?"

"Of course, Harry." Dumbledore replied. "Besides, I believe we should leave the two Malfoys to catch up."

As Harry got his invisibility cloak from where he left it just in front of the door, a voice stopped him from leaving. "Potter wait!" Malfoy said.

Harry turned and saw the blonde heading towards him. Surprising Harry and everyone else in the room, Malfoy pulled Harry into a hug. Harry paused for a second in surprise but got over it quickly and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist. While still in Harry's embrace, Malfoy spoke.

"Thank you... For everything." The blonde gave Harry's shoulders one last gentle squeeze before letting go and walking back to Narcissa.

As Harry was making his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry felt as if he was missing something. Harry started thinking of what it could be, but soon stopped trying to figure out because the only thing he could think of was... Well, it was so absurd... But he kept thinking he missed Malfoy holding onto him... But of course, that was nonsense. He was definitely only thinking that because he is so tired.

So Harry shoved those thoughts way into the smallest corner in the back of his head and quickly forgot them as he let sleep take over.


	9. Chapter 9

When Harry came into the Common Room the next day, his path was blocked by Hermione. "Harry!" Hermione said, "Where were you last night?"

Harry, who had been expecting this, answered right away. "Don't worry, 'Mione. I was just with Malfoy."

"Why?"

"Well, Narcissa was supposed to have arrived that morning so when she still wasn't here by dinner, he was really worried."

"So what happened?" Hermione asked, "Is he okay? Did Narcissa show up?"

Harry held up his hand to get her to stop he questions. "Geeze Hermione," he joked, "could you let a guy finish his thought?"

Hermione blushed a little, then motioned for him to continue. "Okay," he started again, "so I went to see if he was okay and he was pretty upset so I comforted him for a bit." Harry blushed at this, remembering how he had embraced Malfoy. Harry noticed Hermione give him a questioning and calculating look so he hurried to finish, hoping to distract her.

"And then Dumbledore and Snape showed up with Narcissa and I stayed a bit to talk to Dumbledore. Then I noticed it was really late so I came back here to sleep."

"So Narcissa is safe then?"

"Yeah, she just couldn't get away from Lucius any earlier." Harry replied.

"Oh thank goodness! When do you think they're going to tell everyone about them switching sides?"

"I assume it'll be today. Let's go eat! I'm starved."

He and Hermione made their way to the Great Hall and when Harry went through the doors, he automatically turned to look for Malfoy. Harry noticed that the blonde looked really happy, an emotion Harry hadn't seen the boy wear in quite a long time.

As if sensing his gaze, Malfoy looked over at him. Harry watched, mesmerized as the blonde smiled that breathtaking smile and Harry found that he couldn't look away. Or move for that matter. But just as suddenly as it started, it stopped when Malfoy looked away. Harry found he could walk again and managed to make it to his seat.

 _What is wrong with me?_ Harry thought. _Why is he effecting me so much?_ Harry didn't have time to think about this, however, because right at that moment, Dumbledore got up to get everyone's attention.

"I have an announcement to make! We have a very special guest who will be staying here in Hogwarts for protection. This person and her son have switched sides in the war and therefore need the protection Hogwarts can give. So please welcome Narcissa Malfoy."

During Dumbledore's announcement, people had been happy and excited to have a new supporter for the light side. But Harry noticed, once they discovered it was Narcissa and Draco Malfoy that had switched, they weren't so thrilled. In fact, everyone seemed to be accusing the Malfoys of being spies for Voldemort.

By the time Narcissa was seated beside Snape at the Head table, people were starting to voice their opinions quite loudly. Harry finally had had enough and started walking through the House tables to get to the front of the Great Hall. As he did this, people started getting the wrong impression. "See!" one person yelled out, "Harry knows that they are up to something!"

"Yeah!" another kid added, "I bet he's going to go hex them!"

Finally, Harry had made it to the podium that Dumbledore used. "May I?" Harry asked the Head Master. At Dumbledore's nod of approval, Harry cast Sonorus on himself and turned to the students.

"May I have your attention, please?" Immediately, his classmates became silent, eager to hear what the 'Golden Boy' had to say. Once he was sure everyone was listening, Harry continued. "Look, I know you all think that the Malfoys are spies for Voldemort, but they aren't!"

"And how would you know that?" a boy from Ravenclaw asked.

"Because I have gotten to know Malfoy and he proved to me that he was telling the truth."

"How?" asked a Hufflepuff girl.

Harry looked over to Malfoy and saw the blonde was watching him very intently. Harry knew that everyone would understand right away if they knew that Malfoy had cried and broken down in front of him. But Harry also knew that he would forever lose Malfoy's trust. And Harry didn't want to see the blonde with his mask on anymore. He wanted to see the blonde smile. So Harry looked directly at Malfoy when he answered.

"That is between Malfoy and me as it is personal. But, I assure you that it proved his innocence." Harry watched Malfoy's eyes and saw relief pooling within the gray. "Now," Harry finished, "I hope you take my word for it. And if not, well, please keep your opinions to yourself. Thank you." With that, Harry left the podium, taking off the Sonorus, and went back to his seat.

Dumbledore stood up once again and said, "Well said, Mr. Potter. Now, all of you go and enjoy your Saturday!" As the Head Master sat down again, most people got up and left the Great Hall, talking animatedly to each other as they went.

Harry slumped down in his seat: He truly hated having people staring at him like that. It took a lot out of him. He just hoped it would work and people would leave Narcissa and Malfoy alone. Harry looked up towards the blonde to see him talking to Zabini, Nott, and Parkinson. Harry hoped Malfoy's friends are okay with him switching sides.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

"So that's what you couldn't tell me?" Blaise asked.

Draco sighed. Once Potter had finished speaking, Pansy, Blaise, and Theo had swarmed him. "Yeah, Blaise... I'm sorry I wouldn't tell you before but I couldn't risk being discovered, you know?"

"I get it, Draco." Blaise said, "You didn't want your mother getting hurt."

"Thanks, Blaise." Draco said. _Well,_ he thought, _at least I still have Blaise as a friend..._ Draco turned to the other two who hadn't spoken yet. "So?" Draco asked, expecting the worst, "Are you still my friends now that I'm on the light side?"

All three of Draco's friends looked at him with incredulous expressions. Pansy was the first to speak, "Draco! How could you think we'd stop being friends with you?"

Draco looked at all his friends to see that none of them were going to leave him. Draco was confused. _I thought they supported the Dark Lord?_ Draco looked back towards Pansy and realized that she was waiting for him to answer her. "Um... I dunno... I just thought that..."

"That what?" Blaise interrupted, "That we actually _want_ to follow a bloody psychopath and do what he says?"

Draco suddenly felt very foolish. _How could I have had such little faith in my friends?_ Draco wondered. "I'm sorry." he said, hoping his apology would be enough.

"It's okay, Draco. We thought for a while that you were willingly doing what the Dark Lord said so how can we be mad at you for thinking the same of us." Blaise said, always the voice of reason.

"Thanks, guys, this means a lot."

"We'll always be there for you, Draco." Theo said, this being the first time he spoke throughout the whole conversation.

Finally, his friends left him to finish eating. Draco looked over to where Potter was sitting and saw him slouching in his seat. At that moment, Potter looked up and gray eyes met green for a moment. In that moment, Draco could see that Potter looked close to vomiting. _He looks awfully green._ Draco thought. _It's probably because he was talking in front of the whole school._ Now that Draco knew about how much Potter hates his fame, he knew about how much energy it took for Potter to do that. _I can't believe he did that for Mother and me. I feel like I owe him so much._

After what seemed like forever, Potter looked away and got up to leave with Granger. At that moment, surrounded by his friends and knowing Potter was there for him and having his Mother safe, Draco felt truly happy.

That feeling, however, only lasted for a short while. Once he was alone, walking up all those stairs to his room, they found him... and they didn't let him go until a while later.


	10. Chapter 10

It had been a week since Narcissa had arrived at Hogwarts and Harry thought there was something wrong. He noticed how Malfoy wasn't being his usual self. _I thought he'd be happy since he and Narcissa are now safe. What is going on?_ Harry started paying extra attention to the blonde.

He saw how Malfoy would hardly eat and looked paler than normal. Harry watched as Zabini sat beside Malfoy, putting his hand on the blonde's shoulder as he sat. He saw how Malfoy seemed to flinch at the touch, only to relax slightly when he realized who it was. _He's so jumpy._ Harry thought. _It's like he's afraid of something... But what?_ Harry thought about what the blonde could be afraid of but eventually gave up in frustration.

He looked up to see that Malfoy had left the Great Hall. Determined, Harry got up from his seat beside Hermione and walked towards the Slytherin table. _If anyone knows what's wrong with Malfoy, it's him._

"Zabini," Harry said.

Zabini looked up in surprise before saying, "Potter? What are you doing here?"

"Could we talk? It's important."

Zabini stared long and hard at Harry. _He's probably trying to figure out if I'm up to something..._ Finally, he responded. "Sure Potter. Lead the way."

Harry let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He then turned around and left the Great Hall, looking back to see Zabini following close behind. Harry walked out the large castle doors and sat on a nearby bench. Behind the bench was a large hedge with scented flowers sprouting from it. Directly in front of Harry was a small flower garden that Harry had somehow never seen before.

 _Odd..._ he thought, _You'd have thought I'd remember those since I've walked out those doors plenty of times before..._ Harry was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Zabini stopping. Zabini seemed to hesitate for a moment but then sat next to him.

The two boys sat for a while in silence, staring at the flower garden in front of them, neither knowing how to start the conversation. After what seemed like ages, Zabini broke the awkward silence. "What did you need to talk about Potter?"

"It's Malfoy," Harry answered, relieved that he didn't have to start the conversation; he never was very good at getting his thoughts out and often needed people like Hermione to prompt him.

Zabini immediately tensed, going on the defense now that his best friend was involved, "What about him?"

"I'm worried about him, Zabini!" Harry blurted.

"You're... You're worried about _Draco_?" Zabini asked, sounding thoroughly confused.

"Yes! Aren't you? He's hardly eating, he's way too pale, and for goodness sakes, he flinched when you simply touched his shoulder! He doesn't even seem happy that Narcissa is back!" Harry ranted, getting angrier and more frustrated as he went.

"Look, just calm down Potter." Zabini started, "I'm worried too, and I just was surprised that you would care so much about him."

Harry sighed. He took a couple of deep breaths to try to get rid of all his frustrations. "I'm sorry I went off on you, it's just that I'm worried, you know?"

"I know, it’s okay Potter, I get it."

"So you don't know what's going on?" Harry asked.

"No, I don’t. I'm worried about him too, but he won't talk to me about it..." Zabini said tiredly. "I have to get back to the Great Hall... I'm sorry I couldn't help you much... See you around Potter."

"See you, Zabini," Harry said as Zabini got up from the bench and walked back towards the castle doors.

Harry was about to get up and leave when he saw blonde hair down by the black lake. Harry quickly got up from the bench and went across the grounds. Finally, he was standing right behind Malfoy. From this close, Harry could truly see how pale and thin the blonde looked. When Harry made some noise to alert Malfoy of his presence, the blonde instantly tensed up and turned towards Harry. He could now see that the blonde had huge purple bags under his eyes. _He must not be sleeping at all,_ Harry thought.

"Potter." Malfoy acknowledged. Harry watched, confused, as Malfoy got up and started walking away from him.

Harry grabbed the blonde's arm to stop him from leaving but rushed to let it go when Malfoy flinched. "Where are you going?" Harry asked.

"Away from here."

"Why?"

"Because, Potter," Malfoy spat, "I just want to be left alone!"

"What's wrong? Whatever it is, I'm sure it can be handled!" Harry said, desperate to know what was going on.

"It's none of your fucking business Potter!" Malfoy practically yelled, "Now just leave me the fuck alone and stay out of my life!"

Harry took a step back as if stung. He was hurt by what Malfoy had said. "I just wanted to help," Harry whispered just loud enough for the blonde to hear.

Malfoy almost seemed to think about staying but then turned on his heel and left Harry standing by the lake. All Harry could do was watch as the blonde stormed up to the castle doors and went inside. Malfoy didn't even look back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

Draco made it to a hidden alcove before he collapsed to the floor crying. _How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I accept his help? Then all of this would have been over!_ But Draco knew that he would never tell Potter what was going on. In fact, he wouldn't tell _anyone_ what was happening. It would be much too humiliating to tell people. He just wanted it to end. He couldn't take much more, he is so close to breaking completely. This is why, when they found him this time, he didn't even bother trying to stop it. He just let it happen, hoping that this was the end. _I just want this to end._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Harry's POV:**

After standing at the Black Lake for what felt like hours, Harry decided to go back inside the castle. Once inside, Harry realized that something was really wrong. He heard spells being cast and people laughing. At first, he assumed that it was just some first or second years fooling around. But then Harry heard a muffled sob and he instantly recognized who it belonged to.

Harry ran. He ran as fast as he could, pulling out his wand in the process. When Harry turned the corner, he stopped briefly to take in the scene.

There were about four, no five, people in the secret corridor. Harry recognized all of them. Four of them were Slytherins he had seen around the castle but didn't know the names of. The fifth person, to Harry's astonishment, was none other than Ronald Weasley. On the ground was the victim.

Harry looked to the stone floor and saw Malfoy curled in the fetal position, blood oozing from wounds all over his body, but none were worse than the ones on his chest. He also noticed that there were bruises practically covering the cowering boy's body. Harry took all of this in within a few seconds. In those few seconds, Harry became livid. Harry looked to the Weasel and saw a huge smirk on the red head's face which only angered Harry even further.

Harry pointed his wand at his former best friend and yelled, "RONALD WEASELY!" As Weasley turned and saw Harry, the smirk quickly left his face. In the corner of his eye, Harry saw the four Slytherins trying to sneak away undetected. Harry flicked his wand in their direction and they all froze, having been put into a body-bind. He then pointed his wand towards the Weasel again and cast the same body-binding curse on him.

Harry rushed over to Malfoy and knelt beside him. He used basic healing spells he had learned but it only fixed the cuts to his face, arms, and legs. Harry then realized that the cuts to the blonde's chest were probably made by Dark Magic. He understood then that he had no choice. Harry pulled out his wand and made his Patronus appear.

Harry then recorded a message. "Snape, Malfoy's hurt really badly, he was attacked and I think they used Dark Magic. Hurry!"

Harry watched as the stag bounded off to find Snape and bring guide him here. Harry tried his hardest to stop the bleeding but no matter what he did, he couldn't stop it. Harry looked down at Malfoy's face and saw he was deathly pale. If it hadn't been for Harry being able to feel the blonde's heartbeat under his hands, he would have thought that Malfoy was dead.

Finally, Snape arrived. Harry saw him pause a moment to look at the Weasel and the Slytherins. Once he saw Malfoy, however, he rushed over and knelt beside Harry. Snape muttered some sort of counter-curse and instantly the wounds stopped bleeding and not long after, the skin sealed itself, leaving scars where the wounds had been. Realizing Malfoy would still have to go to the Hospital Wing, Harry created another Patronus.

"Madame Pomfrey, Draco Malfoy is seriously injured, he'll need blood replenishing potions for sure. He's also been beaten up pretty badly. Please be ready for when Professor Snape and I bring him in. Thank you." The stag rushed the Hospital Wing.

Harry then turned to Snape, saying, "I'm not sure what the best way to transport him is so you might want to do that. Hurry!"

Quickly, Snape levitated Malfoy, being sure not to jostle the blonde and then rushed to the Hospital Wing with Harry close behind. They left the five guilty students in the hidden corridor, still bound by Harry's spell. Neither Harry nor Snape cared, however, since they were both so focused on Malfoy.

When they reached the Hospital Wing, they found the door already open for them and Madame Pomfrey beside a bed with potions in hand. Snape put Malfoy gently down on the bed and helped get the right potions Malfoy would need. Harry stood to the side, not wanting to get in the way and mess something up. His emerald eyes never left the blonde's face.

After a couple of hours, Madame Pomfrey finally sat down with a huff of exhaustion and Snape finally stopped adjusting the potions connected to Malfoy through an I.V.

"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, he will be. Lucky you got there when you did because much longer, and he wouldn't have made it." Madame Pomfrey said, "You are welcome to stay as long as you wish, Harry. I'm going to go to bed. If anything changes, an alarm will sound and wake me up."

"Thank you," Harry said quietly.

"He'll be okay Harry." Madame Pomfrey said, placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

Harry gave her a weak smile and then looked back towards Malfoy. Harry noticed the blonde still had some blood in his hair. Harry then looked down at himself and noticed that he was covered in Malfoy's blood. It was all over his hands and clothes. He was torn between staying with Malfoy and getting new clothes and showering.

His thoughts were disrupted, however, by Snape's voice. "Potter, could I talk to you?"

"Sure, Sir," Harry replied.

"Could you tell me what happened in that corridor?"

Harry shook his head a little. "I wasn't there for all of it, Sir. So I'm not exactly sure what happened before I came in... But when I got there, I found the four Slytherins and Ronald Weasley there. They were all laughing. When I saw Malfoy, I yelled at Weasley. The others tried to sneak away, but I put them in a full body-bind curse before they could go anywhere. Then I did the same to that Weasel. Then I did some basic healing charms on Malfoy and when they worked on all the cuts except for the ones on his chest, I knew that it must have been Dark Magic so I sent my Patronus to get you, and well… you know the rest of course." Harry said all of this quietly without once looking away from Malfoy.

"That's pretty impressive Mr. Potter," Snape said just as quietly.

Hardly believing what he was hearing, Harry turned to look at Snape. Harry knew that Snape was a spy for Dumbledore and that he had loved Lily, but Snape had still never been particularly nice towards him let alone compliment him.

"Thanks." Harry finally managed to say.

Snape sighed then looked away from Harry when he said the next part. "Look, Harry, I've realized I was wrong about you. I... You just look so much like James and I guess I just jumped to the conclusion that you were exactly like him. I was stubborn and I tried my hardest to find James in you... But I can't. All I see now is Lily. Today, you were put in a highly stressful situation and you were calm and knew exactly what to do and you saved Draco's life. Your mother would have been the same, Harry. Trust me, I've seen her in action. She would have been proud… But, anyways, today just solidified how much you aren't like your father and so... I'm sorry Harry."

When Snape had finished, Harry was completely dumb-struck. He'd never thought that Snape of all people would apologize to him. But what he'd said about him being like his Mum and her being proud... Harry didn't think Snape would ever truly know how much it meant to him.

"Thank you, Sir... That really means a lot." Harry said.

"Yes well, just know that I'm going to have to keep pretending I hate you in class so that Voldemort's followers don't get suspicious."

"I understand, Sir," Harry said. After a long moment of silence, Snape got up to leave. Before he could reach the door, Harry stopped him. "Professor Snape?"

"Yes Harry?" he said, turning back to look at Harry.

Harry hesitated a little before finally deciding to go through with asking him the question. "Would you... maybe... tell me about her sometime? About my Mum?"

Snape looked at Harry and gave him a small smile, the first Harry had ever seen him give. "I'd love to, Harry." With that, he left with his robes billowing behind him, in true Snape fashion.

Once Snape had left, Harry turned back to Malfoy. Remembering how filthy he was, he debated going to have a shower but decided he didn't want to leave Malfoy unless absolutely necessary. So Harry grabbed his wand and Scourgified himself clean and then did the same to Malfoy, getting the blood out of the boy's blonde hair. He then proceeded to sit in the chair next to Malfoy's bed, watching the blonde as exhaustion took over and he fell asleep in the chair.


	11. Chapter 11

Harry woke up the next day to find himself still in the uncomfortable chair in the Hospital Wing. Harry looked towards Malfoy who was still unconscious. He noticed, however, that the blonde didn't look quite as pale as he had last night.

"Ah, Harry, you're up." Startled, Harry turned to see Dumbledore sitting beside him.

"Hello, Professor... Why are you here, Sir?" Harry asked while stretching. _Note to self,_ Harry thought, _never sleep in a chair like this again, it hurts like Hell the next day._

"I'm here because Professor Snape showed up at my office late last night with five body-binded students. He, of course, told me what happened. But unfortunately, I still have to ask you personally."

Harry sighed. He really didn't want to have to tell the story all over again. Harry was trying to think of a way to postpone it when an idea came to him.

“Sir? Could I possibly just give you my memory of what happened? It would be easier that way. Plus, then I wouldn't have to keep telling people what happened."

"Of course Harry, that is probably the best way to go about this." The Head Master pulled an empty vial out of his cloak and handed it to Harry. "I always carry one in case I see something that I can't afford to forget later on," Dumbledore explained to Harry, who had given him a questioning look.

Harry took out his wand and put it to his temple, thinking about what had happened in the hidden corridor and afterward. He stopped just before it got to his and Snape's conversation. Harry didn't know who might be seeing this memory so he didn't want to accidentally expose Snape as a spy. Harry took his wand away from his head and put the long silver thread attached to it in the vial.

"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore said as Harry handed him the memory. "I assume you're staying here?"

"Yeah, I am," Harry said.

"Well, I'm sure that if you get hungry, then Dobby will be quite happy to bring you something."

The Head Master then turned to leave. Before he could get very far, though, Harry called for him not to leave yet. When Dumbledore turned back to Harry, he said, "Dumbledore, Sir, would you please show the memory to as few people as possible?"

"Might I ask why, Harry?"

"Because Malfoy wouldn't tell anyone about this happening. He would rather keep getting beat up then have anyone know."

"Ah, I believe I understanding. He didn't want people knowing Mr. Weasley had been the one to do this to him."

"It's not just about Weasley though... He doesn't want people to pity him, or worse, to see him as weak. He may have changed, but the Malfoy pride has been instilled in him since birth. It's not just going to up and leave because he's switched sides." Harry said.

"Yes, Harry... I do believe you are correct. I promise I will show it to as few people as possible. Now eat some breakfast Harry, it's going to be lunch in a few hours."

"Thank you, Sir." Harry said to Dumbledore's retreating form. When the Head Master had left, Harry called for Dobby. With a pop, Dobby appeared before Harry, looking eager to please.

"Harry Potter!" the House Elf squeaked happily, "How may Dobby be of service?"

"Hey, Dobby. Could you possibly get me a change of clothes and something to eat?"

"Of course Harry Potter! Dobby would be honoured!"

Dobby popped away and came back barely a minute later with eggs, bacon, toast, and some pumpkin juice on a tray in one hand. In the other, Dobby held a change of clothes. Dobby then bowed when Harry told him he didn't need anything else and left Harry to eat in peace. When Harry had finished getting dressed and eating, Hermione came rushing in with tears rolling down her face.

"Oh, Harry!" she started, "I can't believe someone would attack Malfoy like that! Oh goodness, look at him!" she said when she looked towards Malfoy. Turning back to Harry, she asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

"Yeah, Pomfrey said it was a close call. If I hadn't arrived when I had and stopped them... Well, he would have died..." Harry whispered the last part.

"Wait!? You saw who did this? You were the one who saved him?"

"Woah, hold on, 'Mione! You didn't know what happened?" Harry asked, really confused.

"No! Snape came up to me, which was weird because he never does, and he told me that Malfoy had been attacked and that you were with him at the Hospital Wing. He didn't tell me anything else!"

Harry sighed and closed his eyes. _Apparently, I'm going to have to explain this again anyway..._ Harry sighed one more time before he began to speak. "It was Ron, 'Mione..." Harry started.

"Ron? What did Ron do?" Hermione asked, confused.

"He, along with four Slytherins, attacked Malfoy last night," Harry said, anger terribly hidden in his voice.

"RONALD DID WHAT!?" Hermione yelled.

Harry quickly put up a silencing charm around them so Madame Pomfrey wouldn't hear them. "He attacked Malfoy. They were laughing about it and when I got there, Ron was smirking, Hermione, _Smirking_!"

"I don't understand..." Hermione said, obviously shocked. "I knew he hated Malfoy, but to actually hurt him?"

"It wasn't simply hurting him, 'Mione," Harry said quietly.

"What do you mean Harry?"

"Malfoy almost died last night Hermione! They were going to kill him!" Harry had tears going down his face when he said this, the realization that Malfoy could have died finally hitting him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Hermione's POV:**

Hermione was shocked. She had never seen Harry cry before. _No, that's not true,_ Hermione thought, _he cried when Sirius died. But that was the first and only time he'd cried. Why is he so upset about this?_ Hermione wondered. She rushed over to Harry and pulled him into a tight hug. She murmured random reassurances to him and eventually, he calmed down. They sat like that for a while until Hermione realized she was late for Potions.

"Oh my GOD! HARRY! We're late for Potions!"

"I'm not going, 'Mione. I'm staying with Malfoy."

Hermione was having an internal battle. _I don't want to be even later... But Harry can't just skip the whole class and all the others! OH GOD! WHAT DO I DO!? Okay, calm yourself... Think logically..._ Hermione looked at Harry and she quickly realized that no matter what she said or did, he wasn't going to leave Malfoy. She sighed in defeat. "Oh alright! I'll bring you your homework..."

"Thanks, 'Mione," Harry said.

But she barely heard him as she was rushing off to Potions. All the way there she thought about Harry's reaction to Malfoy almost dying and what it could possibly mean. The only thing that she could think of, however, seemed way too far-fetched. She quickly forgot about that though, when she got to her Potions class.

"Well well, how nice of you to join us, Miss Granger," Snape said.

 _Oh dear..._ Hermione thought, _I'm in trouble now._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

**Harry's POV:**

It had been two days since Malfoy had been attacked and he was still unconscious. Harry hadn't left his side except to use the bathroom. Dobby brought him food and new clothes each day and anything else he asked for. Hermione brought him his homework every day.

Harry had transformed the uncomfortable chair into a reclining one so he could actually sleep and sit without hurting afterward. Malfoy looked back to his normal self but he was still unconscious. Every once in a while though, he would move his hand or his foot.

Hermione had told him how, the day she had been late, Snape had told her to stay after class to talk about her detention. But, when she had stayed, he simply told her it was okay and that he understood why she was late. Needless to say, Hermione had been terribly confused. So Harry had told her about Snape and his conversation. She had been surprised at first but had accepted it, saying it made sense. Since then, Hermione had stayed with Harry during her free time to help him with his homework and to keep him company.

 Narcissa came in at one point too. When she had found out Harry had been the one who saved Malfoy, she had rushed over to Harry and given him a huge hug. Tears in her eyes, she had thanked him too many times to count. Once she found out that Malfoy would be okay, she told Harry to inform her if the blonde woke up and then left Harry in peace. She had only returned one more time to check on Malfoy and make sure everything was okay.

The Weasel had gotten into a lot of trouble. He was taken off the Quidditch team, serving detention every day except for Sundays (which he ended up always having to use to get his homework done, rather than hang out with his friends), and warned that if he did one more violent act towards someone, then he'd be expelled.

The only reason they _weren't_ expelled, according to Hermione, was because they said they didn't know that the spell they performed was Dark Magic and that they didn't know he was going to die. Harry and Hermione, of course, knew that this was complete crap, but Dumbledore couldn't really prove it without using something illegal, so he had to let them go, but not without punishment.

It was really late and Harry was trying to finish his Transfiguration homework when he fell asleep. He was woken up by someone calling his name about four hours later.

"Potter? Hey Potter, wake up!"

Harry groaned and opened his eyes slowly. Once his eyes adjusted to the lights, Harry looked to see who had called him. He turned his head to see silver-gray eyes staring into his own emerald ones.

"Malfoy! You're awake!"


	12. Chapter 12

**_'He turned his head to see Malfoy staring back at him. "Malfoy! You're awake!"'_ **

"How long have I been in here?" Malfoy asked.

"Um... Three days now." Harry responded.

" _Three days!?_ " Draco exclaimed. "Wait, why are you here Potter?"

Before Harry could answer, however, Madame Pomfrey came bursting in. "Oh, Mr. Malfoy! Good, good! Tell me, how are you feeling?" She asked while checking the potions and spells.

"I'm well... I feel pretty light-headed and..." Malfoy didn't finish the sentence, though. He looked at Harry again questioningly.

Harry, of course, knew why the blonde hadn't finished his sentence. He knew Malfoy was going to say 'weak', but that he had stopped himself because he didn't want others to think of him as that.

"Tired?" Harry finished for him. Malfoy gave him a grateful smile.

"Yeah," he said, "tired."

"Well," Madame Pomfrey began, "that's normal. You haven't eaten solid food in three days. Nutrition potions can only do so much. You won't be able to eat anything solid until the nutrition potion has run out. Which should be in... about, hmm... four hours. Then you can eat. You'll have to stay in the Hospital Wing for a bit, I'm afraid. You haven't completely healed." Pomfrey finished switching about potions and then said, "Well, I'll leave you two to talk."

She went to leave, but Malfoy stopped her. He motioned for her to come closer and when she did, he whispered something to her. It was too low for Harry to hear, but Madame Pomfrey straightened up with a large frown on her face before answering. "I'm sorry Draco, but you already have the limit of potions I can give someone... I truly am sorry." With that, she left behind a highly disappointed Malfoy and a confused Harry to go back to her office.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it... So, what exactly are you doing here Potter?"

Realizing Malfoy didn't want to talk about it, Harry let the topic drop and instead answered the blonde's question. "I'm the one who found you."

"F-found m-m-me?" Malfoy stuttered.

"Yeah... I saw who did it and-"

"You _What!?_ Malfoy exclaimed, trying to get up but instantly wincing in pain.

Harry rushed over and gently pushed the blonde back down into his previous position. "Calm down Malfoy," Harry said, trying to stop the blonde from hurting himself again. "Look, it's okay. The only other people that know are Dumbledore, Snape, and Hermione."

Malfoy relaxed slightly at this so Harry sat back down. "I don't have to explain to them what happened, do I? Because I don't think I can."

"I don't think so." Harry responded, "I gave Dumbledore my memory of that night so they don't really need that much more."

"Why did you give them a memory?"

"Because I didn't want to explain it a thousand times."

"How many people are going to be able to see it!?" Malfoy asked in a panic.

"Don't worry!" Harry said quickly, "I made Dumbledore promise that he'd show it to someone else only if absolutely necessary."

"Why would you do that?" Malfoy asked, shocked.

"Because I figured you wouldn't want people to see you like that... And I thought you probably didn't want to be pitied because of it." Harry said quietly.

"So you did it for me?" the blonde asked, hardly understanding what Harry had said.

"Yeah, I did."

"Thank you..." Malfoy said quietly.

Harry gave a small smile before saying, "Anytime, Malfoy. Anytime.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Neither felt the need to say anything for a bit. Finally, though, Malfoy broke the peaceful silence. "Hey, Potter?"

"Yeah, Malfoy?"

"It's early in the morning."

"Yeah, so?" Harry responded.

"Well, what are you doing here so early?"

"Oh..." Harry blushed a little, much to the confusion of both boys. "Well, I've sort of been sleeping here while you were unconscious."

"Oh..." Malfoy said, sounding confused and surprised. "Well, why?"

"I... I dunno really..." he said, blushing once again. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"What do you mean? Of course, I was going to be fine... Wasn't I?"

"Malfoy! You almost died!" Harry exclaimed. He could feel tears starting to form once again at the thought of the blonde dying. Harry tried to push the tears back, hoping Malfoy didn't notice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

**_"Malfoy! You almost died!"_ **

Draco stared at Potter. _I almost died? I can't believe I almost died!_ As Draco watched Potter, he noticed that Potter had tears in his eyes. _Why is he so upset? Wait!? Is he upset because I almost died? I mean, we're pretty much friends now, but I didn't expect Potter to care so much about me._ Draco continued to watch as Potter tried to push back his tears.

Eventually, it worked and Draco finally spoke. "I really almost died?"

"Yes. When I got there... Merlin... There was blood everywhere... You were cut up everywhere and you looked so lifeless... I thought you were dead until I felt your heartbeat. And that Weasel and the Slytherins... They were laughing! They knew you were dying and there they were, laughing!" By the end of his ranting, Potter sounded furious.

Draco couldn't believe that Harry seemed to care so much about him. _Since when does he care so much? And why me of all people? I'm nothing special..._

"Hey! Malfoy!" Potter said, snapping Draco out of his depressing thoughts, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, just got lost in my own thoughts."

"Oh... Okay. Well, hey, you get out of here soon! You can go back to your room and-"

Potter stopped talking at the look of terror that had no doubt been on Draco's face. _No, no, no, no, no!_ Draco thought,  _I can't go back there! That's where they first found me!_

As if reading my thoughts, Potter asked, "Malfoy... I know that this wasn't the first time they had gotten to you because I saw that some of the bruises were old... So... Where did it happen the other times?" Potter asked tentatively, obviously not wanting to upset Draco.

Draco looked away from Potter. _I know I should tell him. He's seen me at my worst... and he hasn't once called me weak or a coward... If I can trust anyone right now, it's Snape, Mother, and Potter... Doesn't mean I have to look at him when I tell him though._

Draco, still looking away from Potter, began talking. "They first got me when I was walking up the stairs to my room... Weasley wasn't there the first time because he couldn't get into the Common Room. But I guess the Slytherins started to trust him and gave him the password... He showed up the second time... Again, they got me on the stairs, but there were some people downstairs so they dragged me into my own room... My own room Potter!"

To Draco's dismay, he started crying. _Merlin! Haven't I cried enough in front of him?_ But Draco couldn't stop the tears, no matter how hard he tried. He felt Potter reach over and grab his hand.

"Malfoy, look at me," Potter said calmly and quietly. Slowly, Draco lifted his head to look into emerald green eyes. "Malfoy, you will not have to go back to your room. Hell, you won't even have to go back to the Slytherin Common Room if you don't want to!"

"I'm not going to go to Gryffindor, Potter."

Potter smiled a little at this. "I wasn't going to suggest it, Malfoy." Potter then surprised the both of them by leaning over and wiping the tears off of Draco's face with his thumb. "Sorry," Potter said, turning beet red.

"It's alright," Draco said.

If he was being honest with himself, he really didn't mind Potter touching his face like that. Potter's hand had been warm and made him feel safe. Too bad Draco wasn't being honest with himself. In fact, he shoved those feelings to the back of his mind so he could forget them.

"So, where do you suppose I'll live then? Surely not in Ravenclaw or, Merlin forbid, Hufflepuff!" Draco said, only slightly joking.

Potter laughed a little and then became serious once more. "No." Potter said, "I was thinking that we'd create our own place. Somewhere that you can feel safe. And you could have all the people you truly trust live there with you!"

"That would be great Potter, but no such place exists."

"Not yet," Potter said rather confidently.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked. _How can he be so sure that this will happen?_

"Well, all I have to do is ask Dumbledore for permission, really. See, as Head Master, the castle listens to him and the needs of the students. So, if Dumbledore lets her, then Hogwarts will create a new space for you to live."

"So the castle can change whenever it wants to help the students? Why aren't there always changes happening then?" Draco asked, trying to understand all of this. _How does he even know this?_

"Not exactly, she has to ask Dumbledore for permission to do something drastic. The only thing she has control of is the Room of Requirement."

"Oh, I get it! Wait... _she_?"

"Yeah, Hogwarts is female."

"How do you know all of this, Potter?" Draco asked, impressed.

"Well, I do read Malfoy. I'm actually pretty intelligent. When it comes to things that interest me, I pick up on things quickly."

"Huh, who would have thought?" Malfoy said, teasingly, "Harry Potter actually knows something other than Defence Against the Dark Arts!"

"Oh hush you!" Potter said.

"So..." Draco said, serious again. "I'll really be able to leave the Slytherin Common Room?"

"Yeah... Is there anyone other than me that you trust and want to live with?"

"Um... Yeah actually! I want Blaise, Pansy, and Theo if you're okay with that."

"I trust them if you do," Potter said trustingly. "Do you mind if Hermione lives with us too?"

Draco thought it over for a moment but then nodded. "Yeah, I trust her."

"Okay cool. So I'll just go talk to Dumbledore about it." Potter made to get up but Draco grabbed Potter's hand, which he hadn't realized he'd still been holding.

"No, please don't leave me alone..." Draco said quietly enough that Potter would have to strain to hear him. He didn't want to be alone. Every time he had been alone before, _they_ had found him. Though he knew they probably wouldn't do that with Madame Pomfrey close by, he still couldn't bear the thought of being alone to deal with everything that happened to him.

A look of understanding spread across Potter's face and he quickly sat down, never letting go of Draco's hand. "What if I get your mother?"

"Yeah, just don't leave until she gets here okay?" Draco knew just how pitiful and weak he sounded, but he couldn't really bring himself to care at that moment. His need to not be alone had won out.

"Okay, I won't leave until she is here." Draco watched as Potter pulled out his wand and cast a Patronus. Potter's was a stag and Draco had to admit that it looked magnificent. "Mrs. Malfoy," Potter said to the stag, "Draco is awake now and wishes to see you."

Five minutes later saw Draco's Mother rushing in to see him. When she did see them, however, she stopped. Draco saw her smile widely at him and Potter. He wondered for a moment why she was acting so weird when he suddenly remembered.

 _Shit! Potter and I are holding hands!_ Potter seemed to come to the same realization because they both let go of each other's hands at the same time. Draco noticed Potter blushing slightly. _Great!_ Draco groaned internally, _now she's_ really _going to think we're together._ Potter turned to him them.

"See you Malfoy. Get your mother to send me a Patronus if she's going to leave. I'll be back soon."

Draco watched as Potter left, preparing himself with things to say to convince Mother that he and Potter aren't dating. _Well,_ he thought, _this will be an awkward conversation..._


	13. Chapter 13

Harry walked out of the Hospital Wing, still blushing from having Narcissa see Malfoy and him holding hands. He walked at a steady pace to go to Dumbledore's office. Right before he got to the Gargoyles, he was stopped.

"Mr. Potter, what are you doing away from Draco?" Harry turned to find Snape standing behind him.

"Oh, I'm just heading to see the Head Master to talk to him about something important," Harry responded.

"I thought you weren't going to leave his side…"

"Well, he woke up a little while ago so we talked and he told me everything that has happened to him."

"So he's awake and you left him _alone_? After everything he's been through?" Snape said angrily.

"Relax Sir! I didn't leave until Narcissa got there!" Harry said defensively.

"Oh, okay… Sorry, I just…" Snape said, obviously struggling to find the right words.

"It's okay, Sir. I get it… You just care for him." Harry said quietly.

"Yes, well… Anyways," Snape began, trying to change the subject, "what exactly happened to Draco?"

"Look, I'm about to tell that to Dumbledore right now so why don't you join us?" Harry offered.

Snape looked a little surprised that Harry would let him in on the conversation, but he nodded his head before saying, "After you, Mr. Potter."

"I don't know the password, Sir," Harry said.

Snape smirked at this. "Honestly Potter," he said, "do you ever think things through?"

Harry blushed but he knew that his professor was only joking.

"Lucky for you," Snape continued, "Dumbledore has changed the way the Gargoyles work. Now, instead of passwords, they step aside for Magical Signatures."

"Oh," Harry said, understanding, "so then it goes by who you are rather than if you know the password… That's smart because anyone can find out the password if they try hard enough, but no one can copy your Magical Signature!"

"That's… actually correct…" Snape said, sounding amazed. Harry knew that Snape had not expected him to understand what Magical Signatures were let alone know so much about them and why they were beneficial.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Honestly!" he said. "I _do_ read you know! Just because I'm not great at Potions, doesn't mean I'm terrible at everything else!"

Having said that, Harry turned and walked past the Gargoyles, who had stepped aside for him. He heard Snape following him so he kept going. When he reached the door to Dumbledore's office with Snape close behind, Harry knocked and waited for a reply.

"Enter," Dumbledore said as the door opened by itself. "Ah, Harry, Severus! To what do I owe this pleasure?" the Head Master asked.

"I have something important I need to discuss with you, Sir," Harry said, sitting in one of the chairs across from Dumbledore.

"I see… And why, may I ask, are _you_ here Severus?"

"I am here," Snape answered, "because whatever this is about, involves Draco in some way."

"Well alright then." Dumbledore said, now turning back to Harry, "How about you tell us why you are here."

"I need you to give Hogwarts permission to construct a new Tower for Malfoy, myself, Hermione, Blaise, Pansy and Theo to live in," Harry said, deciding to get right to the point.

Dumbledore and Snape both looked completely shocked.

"Well, why?" Dumbledore finally asked.

"Because Malfoy can't go back to living in his room or even anywhere near the Slytherin Common Room."

"But why?" Snape asked.

"Because last night wasn't the first time!" Harry stood up and started pacing around the Head Master's office.

Harry looked towards the desk to see that Dumbledore looked shocked both at the news and at Harry's outburst. Harry then turned to Snape who looked much paler than usual.

"How many times?" Snape eventually whispered.

"I'm not sure…" Harry replied, finally stopping his pacing and sitting back down. "He told me about two other times but I'm pretty sure there has been more than that."

Silence fell between the three for a while before Dumbledore finally broke it. "But why does Mr. Malfoy need to switch rooms?" he asked.

The very thought of why Malfoy had to switch rooms angered Harry to no end. He ended up pacing again while he answered angrily, "He has to move rooms because they attacked him on the stairs to the _Slytherin Common Room_ and then dragged him into _his_ room! _His own bloody room!_ " Harry continued his pacing, trying to calm himself down.

 Eventually, he stopped when he noticed Dumbledore whispering. Harry turned towards the sound and found the Head Master whispering to the wall. Confused, Harry asked, "Um… Sir? What exactly are you doing?

Dumbledore continued his whispering for another minute before moving to sit back down. Once he was seated, he answered Harry's question.

"I just told Hogwarts about the situation and she has agreed to make a new Tower."

Relieved, Harry finally sat down. "When will it be ready?" he asked.

"In about a day. It will be ready before Mr. Malfoy is released from the Hospital Wing."

"Thank you, Sir," Harry said.

He let himself relax for a bit before he got up. Harry said goodbye to Snape and Dumbledore, explaining to them how he had to get back to Malfoy. Harry couldn't wait to see the blonde and tell him that they’d now have their own Tower to live in. Harry walked quickly down the corridor wondering how Malfoy's conversation with Narcissa had gone.

~~~~~~~

**Draco's POV:**

"Oh, Draco! How are you feeling?" Narcissa asked once Potter had left the Hospital Wing.

"I'm pretty tired…" Draco said, "And sore, but other than that I'm good."

"You almost _died_ Draco!" she exclaimed, close to letting her unshed tears fall.

"I know Mother, Potter told me," Draco said. When the look on her face changed from upset to smirking, Draco immediately regretted bringing up Potter. _Oh shit! Now she's going to question me about him…_ Draco thought.

"Oh he did, did he?" she asked.

"Yes Mother, he did."

"And what else did he happen to tell you?"

"He told me that he was the one who found me and that he had called for Severus who sealed up all my wounds and then-"

"Wait a minute!" Narcissa interrupted. "He didn't tell you that he was the one that healed you?"

"Please Mother," Draco scoffed, "Potter didn't heal me. Unless you're trying to tell me that he lied to me?"

"No, no… He didn't lie exactly… Severus did heal the wounds to your chest which had been made with a Dark Magic Harry hadn't been familiar with…"

"Woah wait," Draco said, "so you're telling me Potter was the one who healed all of the other wounds?"

"Yes Draco, he did. Pomfrey told me that if Harry hadn't of healed those other wounds as well as he had and when he had, then there would have been no way you would have survived!" she said, choking up a bit at the end.

"But… why wouldn't he tell me?" Draco asked. _Why did Potter make me believe Severus had been the one to save me instead of him?_ Draco wondered.

"I'm not sure, hun. You'll have to ask him yourself." She responded. "Now, how about you tell me what was happening between you and Harry when I walked in," Narcissa said with a wink.

Draco groaned. He had really hoped that she would have forgotten about that. "Look, Mother, nothing is going on between Potter and me."

"Mmhmm… Sure Draco… Now tell your Mother the truth."

"I _am_ telling you the truth!" Draco exclaimed. "We are just _friends_."

"Really? Then why were you two holding hands?" she asked smugly.

"He was just comforting me because I didn't want to be left alone after everything that's happened!" Draco said, trying to convince her.

"Okay Draco, I believe you." She said.

Draco knew, however, by the way, she said it that she didn't really believe him. _Oh well,_ Draco thought, _at least she will leave it alone… I hope…_

A little while later, Potter came racing in looking excited. "Guess what Malfoy!" Potter said happily, making his way towards Draco.

"What?" Draco asked a little confused.

"We have our own Tower!" Potter said.

Realization hit Draco as he remembered their conversation earlier. "Really? That's great Ha-Potter!" Draco said, correcting himself quickly. But not quickly enough apparently since Narcissa gave him a small smirk before turning to Potter.

"What are you talking about Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Oh, Mrs. Malfoy!" Potter said, obviously having forgotten that she has been in the room.

"Please," she said, "call me Narcissa."

"Right, well, Malfoy didn't want to go back to his dorm or Common Room, so I asked Dumbledore to get Hogwarts to build a new tower for us to live in!" Potter said.

"Oh," Narcissa said, turning back to Draco. Draco noticed that her smirk had gotten bigger, "so just the two of you in your own private tower, huh?" she finished with a wink.

 _Merlin, H-Potter,_ Draco thought, _why did you have to word it like that? Now she's definitely going to think we're dating!_

"No Mother, it won't be just us. Pansy, Blaise, Theo and Granger will be living there with us as well if they accept."

"Oh, and if you wanted to, you could live there too, Narcissa," Potter added.

Draco looked up at Potter in surprise. _Why hadn't I thought of that?_ Draco wondered. _How does Potter know exactly what I need even before I do?_ Before he could ponder this, Narcissa spoke.

"I'd love to, thank you, Harry."

"No problem Narcissa." Potter said, smiling.

For about an hour, Draco, Potter, and Narcissa all spoke about trivial things. Draco was a little on edge because Narcissa kept giving him looks that clearly said she still thinks something is going on between Potter and me. _I really don't know what she's seeing,_ Draco thought, _I mean, it's not like we're holding hands or even talking secretively or something!_

"Harry dear," Narcissa said, breaking Draco from his thoughts. "May I speak to Draco alone for a moment?"

"Of course," Potter responded.

~~~~~~~

**Narcissa's POV:**

Narcissa watched as Harry got up from the chair beside Draco's bed. "I'll be just outside." He told Draco quietly. Harry then nodded to Narcissa and left the Hospital Wing.

Once Harry was gone, Narcissa immediately turned to her son. "So, not dating, huh?" she asked.

She watched as Draco closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "I swear Mother, we're just friends! I mean, who said I'm even gay?" he said defensively.

Narcissa openly laughed at that. "Oh please Draco! I've known for a while now! I think almost everyone knows, hun… It _is_ pretty obvious."

"Okay fine… But who said Potter is gay?" Draco said after looking incredulously at her for a moment.

"Oh, well, I don't even think Harry knows it himself yet, but I can tell," Narcissa answered confidently.

"But even if he was, he wouldn't be interested in me…" Draco said quietly.

"Oh, I don't know about that, hun. I think you'd be surprised. This is Harry Potter we're talking about here after all. He tends to surprise people and do the opposite of what we expect from him." Narcissa could see that Draco was thinking about it but she saw when he decided not to believe her. She sighed before continuing. "Oh alright, don't believe me! But he seems to be doing an awful lot more for you then he needs to. Just keep what I said in mind." When Draco reluctantly nodded, she got up. "I'm going to go off to bed now… I'll send Harry back in on my way out. Get some rest Draco."

"I will, Mother," Draco responded.

Narcissa gave her son a light hug, not wanting to hurt him and then walked towards the doors to the Hospital Wing. When she opened the doors, she found Harry sitting with his back against the wall, fast asleep. She reached down and shook the boy's shoulder gently.

"Harry, wake up, you need to go back in with Draco now."

"Sorry," Harry said, "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Have you not been sleeping well?" she asked.

"Not particularly… It was hard to sleep knowing he could wake up at any moment, you know? I wanted to be there for him when he woke up. I didn't want him to be alone and face what happened to him by himself…"

 _Wow…_ Narcissa thought, _he really does care for Draco._ Narcissa was quite touched that he had hardly slept for three days just to be sure Draco didn't wake up alone.

"Thank you, Harry." She said sincerely, "For everything. For saving him, and being there for him and for saving me as well. How could we ever repay you?"

"You don't need to repay me… really. I just want you and Draco to be safe. I didn't do anything special. I just did what anyone else would have done…"

Hearing how uncomfortable Harry was with gratitude and praise, Narcissa suddenly understood why Harry hadn't told Draco that he'd ultimately been the one to save her son. _He didn't want Draco to feel like he owed Harry something. Harry didn't, for whatever reason, want the praise._ Realizing she had been lost in her thoughts, Narcissa went back over what Harry had just said and frowned slightly. Though she knew Harry wouldn't want to hear it, she knew it needed to be said.

"You're wrong about that last part Harry." She began, "I highly doubt anyone else would have done what you did for us. Draco was a bully to you all throughout your schooling and I am married to Lucius Malfoy, the Dark Lord's right-hand man and you still helped us!"

"But you're both innocent and Draco, I mean Malfoy, explained everything to me! I understand why he did all of that now!" Harry argued.

"But that's exactly it Harry! No one else would have even given Draco the chance to explain like you did. They wouldn't have hesitated in hexing him right then and there in that bathroom! Yet, you lowered your wand and listened. And even after that, you never told your friends about Draco breaking down even though anyone else would have done that and had a nice laugh over it. No one other than you would have done what you have for a previous enemy. No one else is as kind and understanding as you are Harry."

"Thank you, Narcissa," Harry said quietly, a slight blush creeping up his neck from the compliments.

"You should go in and see Draco now… And for Heaven's sake, get some sleep tonight!" she said teasingly.

She watched as Harry nodded and smiled slightly. "Goodnight Narcissa." He said, then turned and walked towards Draco who had been watching the whole time from across the room.

Once Harry was in his transfigured chair beside Draco's bed, Narcissa left the Hospital Wing, closing the door quietly behind her. She could tell that there was definitely something going on between Harry and her son. She knew that the holding hands earlier today was just a comforting gesture, but she remembered how both boys had seemed to have forgotten that they were even holding hands.

 _It was like it was something so seemingly normal or natural to them that they didn't even realize it was happening._ She thought. _Normally there would be an awkwardness to it if they didn't like each other but I didn't see any of that, even though they were enemies only a couple weeks ago…_ Narcissa sighed.

She couldn't quite figure those two out. She saw a bit of potential for them, but she wasn't sure if they would realize it. _Especially Harry,_ she thought, _he may be highly intelligent, but sometimes he seems to miss the obvious. Well, I know one thing for sure… It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out…_


End file.
